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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071835">how to be a demon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/joonthegoon/pseuds/joonthegoon'>joonthegoon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Demons, Attempt at Humor, Blood and Violence, Demon Hunter! yeonjun, Demon Hunters, Demon Magic!, Demon/Human Relationships, Demonic Powers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, M/M, Magical Swords, Religious Imagery &amp; Symbolism, also Demon Hunter! soobin, beomgyu is just confused, demon! kai, half-demon! beomgyu, kai is a demon and he helps beomgyu, taehyun is just a regular human lol but beomgyu is his bestie, there is a whole ass demon war brewing and beomgyu got caught in the middle of it lol, yeonjun and soobin are partners, yeonjun has a demon sword, yeonjun is a badass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:41:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>31,966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/joonthegoon/pseuds/joonthegoon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever find yourself waking up in the middle of an alleyway after an accident with no memory of how you got there? Ever been chased by a crazy hot guy with a sword, or find yourself accidentally stumbling into the dark and complex supernatural world of demons? Well, if you have then you've come to the right place. Because that's exactly what's happening to Choi Beomgyu; an ex-normal college student. </p><p>The process of becoming a demon isn't easy, especially when you're basically the key for balance between good and evil. But with some determination, good practice, and a mischievous demon guardian at your side, you can master the art of demonic life in no time! (Along with the crazy prophecies, magic, hunters, millennia-old feuding, and romance(?) that comes with it)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Beomgyu/Choi Yeonjun, Huening Kai/Kang Taehyun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>188</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. step 1: wake up in an alleyway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello~<br/>this is my first story on ao3 and also my first attempt at a supernatural au. i thought about yeonjun and soobin being demon slayers with swords and said "hell yeah".<br/>Hopefully this goes well, enjoy!<br/>(warning tho: this has some blood and violence, nothing too gory i think)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <strong>step one: wake up in an alleyway</strong> </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> ~ yeonjun ~ </em>
</p><p>They always smelled like sulfur. The smell was sharp and intoxicating, and burned the airways insides like poison. It was the easiest way to sniff out a demon, but it takes time and training to be able to desensitize and recognize. Gripping the cool, metal blade in his hand a little harder, Yeonjun made his way through the obscure darkness. He didn’t need light to know that<em> it </em>was here. There was always something about that eerie, abandoned warehouse at the end of the street and on the verge of society, that attracted them here like moths to a bright flame. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but it made his job a hell of a lot easier.</p><p>Yeonjun stiffened at the sounds of sharp whispers, carried by the wind and blowing past his ears. A metallic whirring sound broke the silence as he unsheathed his blade, so fast that he felt the wind whipping around it. The sulfurous smell was starting to create an itch at the back of his throat that he couldn’t scratch, and he knew that he needed to be quick. Blade poised in an elegant but defensive position, Yeonjun continued to move through the dimmed darkness of the abandoned warehouse. He had walked a couple of more blocks, before the sulfur odor suddenly disappeared, along with the high-pitched whistles. He paused, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, his full but petite lips set in a firm grimace.</p><p>And then, the odor was overwhelming.</p><p>Without hesitation, he swung his blade, his body twisting with the force of the swing as it slashed into the figure behind him. The figure, which was as dark as the space around them except for one strikingly noticeable feature; which was its blood red eyes. It had stepped back at the last second so that the blade had only sliced its arm. It let out an ear-splitting shriek, before grounding out a deep, throaty snarl as it swung for Yeonjun with it’s long, jagged claws. Yeonjun expertly dodged each blow, matching them with a blow of his own, swinging the blade and just missing the shadowy figure’s chest each time. He gasped when he felt cold, sharp nails wrap around his ankle and wrenched him towards the ground. His back slammed against the solid surface, and he hissed a curse as pain bloomed in his lower spine, before mentally pushing it away.</p><p>The demon’s crimson eyes gleamed with sadistic delight as it let out a mocking sneer. “This is the great Hunter? Slayer of the ghouls and demons that haunt and roam this earth? I am unimpressed.” </p><p>Yeonjun tried to reach for his blade that was knocked out of his grasp from the impact, but another clawed hand had clasped his shoulder, nails piercing through the fabric as the figure kept him rooted to the ground. He swore again under his breath, his mind racing a mile a minute, as he stared into the crimson eyes of the monster.</p><p>“What are you planning?” Yeonjun demanded through gritted teeth. “Why do you keep coming here?”</p><p>The figure tsked lowly, “You should be more concerned about begging for your life.”</p><p>He spat into its crimson eyes. The figure reeled back, a growl of disgust rolling through its chest before it snarled again. The crimson eyes narrowed dangerously, and sulfur was beginning to choke up his lungs. The nails submerged into his shoulder were quickly released, only to wrap around his throat tightly. Now the burning sensation inside his throat was amplified, as strangled gasps escaped his mouth.</p><p>“I want to see the life drain from your eyes, you filthy human<em> .” </em>It hissed at him, its hot breath fanning his face.</p><p>All Yeonjun could respond with was gasps, purposely making sure that they were loud and theatrical, so the monster wouldn’t notice that his injured arm was slowly reaching for the discarded blade. Even in the dim darkness, he could feel his vision becoming splotchy, his head heavy and chest on fire as the monster continued to strangle him. </p><p><em>Just a little further, dammit. </em>Yeonjun thought frantically. His fingers could almost touch the cool metal.</p><p>His heartbeat slowed, and he could feel the heavy numbness began to wash over his body, threatening to drag him into oblivion. His fingers brushed against the metal again, and another time, before he finally found his grip, and skillfully maneuvered the blade so that it came through the shadowy figure’s chest. Another loud, wet pained howl came from the figure as it fell onto its back, and Yeonjun quickly lunged to be on top of it, hands wrapped around the handle of the blade. He could see the murky black liquid from the figure gushing out and dripping down his face and blade, and at the contact of its blood, the blade glowed a pale white softly. But he didn’t insert it deep enough to kill it, not just yet, he still needed answers.</p><p>“I’ll ask again,” Yeonjun said firmly, twisting the blade and eliciting another painful screech from the monster under him, “<em> What </em>are you planning?”</p><p>“You will never know,” The demon spat back venomously, “Just know that you and your <em> vile </em>kind’s days are numbered.”</p><p>Yeonjun gritted his teeth at the retort, before pulling the blade out of it’s chest, only to plunge it back into its chest with all his force. The shrieks rose to an almost unbearable level, and a burning stench filled the air as the shadowy body under him dissolved until there was nothing left but the sulfurous smoke.</p><p>And then, silence.</p><p>He didn’t realize he was holding in his breath, until the fiery sensation in his lungs surged inside him, and he took heavy labored breaths. Once his breathing returned to normal, Yeonjun stood to his feet, the glowing blade in his hand fading back to its dark monochromatic color. </p><p>He had been retracing his steps in the long, dark hallway when something began to vibrate loudly in his pocket, the noise echoing in the empty hallway. Yeonjun stopped to pull his buzzing cell phone out of his pocket, before placing it against his ear.</p><p>“Is it taken care of?” A deep, masculine voice asked on the other end.</p><p>“Yes, it’s done.” Yeonjun confirmed, wiping the blood off his blade on the wall before sheathing it.</p><p>“Took you long enough,” the voice snorted on the other line, “I thought I was gonna have to send backup to come save your ass.”</p><p>The blonde rolled his eyes playfully, “Shut up Soobin.”</p><p>Soobin snickered for a moment, “Did you at least get any info out of it?”</p><p>“No,” Yeonjun replied, huffing indignantly, “That’s the tenth one I’ve found there, and still nothing.”</p><p>“Hmm,” Soobin murmured curiously, “This must be something big if they’d willingly die before they talk. I’m almost impressed, lower-level demons are usually rogues or unorganized factions.”</p><p>“Doesn’t sound impressive to me,” The blonde muttered, “We need to find out what they’re planning so we can stop it.”</p><p>“We do,” Soobin agreed, “But for now, we need to regroup. Report back to the headquarters immediately.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah.” Yeonjun said flippantly, “See you there.”  He hung up the phone, pushing through the exit doors, and taking in the fresh air of the night. Finally, something other than sulfur.</p><p>The blonde walked out of the abandoned building, strapping the sheath under his long, black baggy coat as he shoved his hands into pockets of it. His boots made a heavy <em> thump </em>against the pavement as he walked back down the street and towards the buzzing nightlife of the city. The finals words of that demon were playing in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t seem to make sense of them. They had word from headquarters that the demons were up to something, it was something big, and he just wished he could figure it out. He didn’t like how long it was taking him and Soobin to complete this mission.</p><p>A frown settled on Yeonjun’s pouty lips, the sounds of heavy wind and cars kept him company as he approached a more populated area. He groaned at the dull sense of pain that pulsed from his shoulder, that demon sure put up a good fight. He already knew there was going to be unpleasant bruises on his left ankle and around his neck, and he definitely wasn’t looking forward to hearing Soobin clowning him about them later on. His stomach grumbled suddenly, alerting him to that fact that he hadn’t really eaten anything substantial for the past five hours.</p><p><em> Great</em>. </p><p>He rounded another corner, thinking about his favorite convenience store when he heard a strange sound. It was a faint sound, but due to Yeonjun being a trained hunter, he was able to pick up on noises that would otherwise be imperceptible to an average person. It sounded like someone was coughing, and by the strangled, hoarseness of it, it sounded painful. It was accompanied by pitiful whimpering, and Yeonjun paused in his steps. It sounded like someone was in trouble, and without another thought the blonde took off towards the direction of the noise soundlessly.</p><p>He rounded another block, the coughing and whimpering becoming much louder. It was coming from a small alleyway in between two buildings, and the blonde started moving towards the alleyway when he suddenly froze in his steps, his body naturally tensing in response. He smelled <em> sulfur. </em>That meant there was a demon involved, this could be an attack. He gripped the handle of the blade under his coat, debating on if he should call Soobin to let him know. He snapped into action when he heard another pain-filled whimper, and Yeonjun rounded the corner, whipping his dark blade out with an almost inhuman speed. </p><p>He expected to see some dark, terrifying monster terrorizing an innocent person. He was a little bit thrown off by the sight of a young guy kneeling in the middle of the alley. His face was hidden by his dark hair and hands, his shoulders shaking as he continued coughing. Yeonjun’s eyes widened, half in shock and half in confusion. He didn’t look like he was in any immediate danger, but the smell of sulfur was still strong in the air...although it smelled a little differently than it usually did. It was tinged with something else, diluted enough that it didn’t burn Yeonjun’s lungs when he inhaled the air. He scanned their environment around them, checking for any monsters, but when he couldn’t find anything he frowned. <em> Something </em>was definitely here, there were black stains all over the ground, and also on the guy. Could he have been attacked, and the demon left before he showed up? That sounded plausible to him.</p><p>Still alert, Yeonjun glanced at the guy on the ground. He looked young, probably around his age or slightly younger.He was still coughing and whimpering, every heave sounding more painful than the last. “Hey, are you oka-”</p><p>Yeonjun’s words were cut off by the sounds of the guy retching onto the ground, staining it with more black liquid. Yeonjun froze again, his eyes widening. It was silent for a moment, the guy stiffening at the sound of another person, before slowly his hands fell away from his face. Hesitantly, he looked up at him, and Yeonjun stared into crimson eyes.</p><p><em> Demon </em>eyes.</p><p>He was one of them!</p><p>Yeonjun’s heart jumped into his chest as he stared at his eyes first, then the sharp veiny nails, and the black blood that spilled from his lips as he coughed again. The shock flooded his systems for a moment, before he pushed it away and regained the trained focus and determination he acquired after years of demon hunting. </p><p>“I-” The guy choked on his own words for a moment, his eyes widening when they darted to the blade in the blonde’s hand, “W-Wait, no-”</p><p>Yeonjun lunged at him, his blade swung with fine precision, aiming for the demon’s chest.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> ~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>“Beomgyu...Beomgyu, <em> wake up!” </em>Was the voice he heard, pulling him out of his sleep.</p><p>Beomgyu opened his eyes groggily, before sitting up immediately at the sharp burst of pain that erupted from his chest. His vision cleared as he groaned, before glaring at the assailant who stood by his bed, arms crossed.</p><p>“What did you hit me for, Taehyun?” The dark-haired boy groaned, rubbing his chest.</p><p>Taehyun remained unfazed, “We have a problem. It’s urgent.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“We’re out of ramen.”</p><p>Beomgyu groaned with a roll of his eyes, “Are you serious? That’s what you woke me up for?”</p><p>“I’m hungry.” Taehyun stated, with a frown that was borderline a pout.</p><p>Beomgyu squinted at him, “Okay? Go get some ramen then.”</p><p>“I can’t, I have a paper due in twenty minutes.” The redhead says, “Can you run out to the convenience store and get me some?”</p><p>“I was literally <em> sleeping </em>.” Beomgyu complained.</p><p>“Please, I’ll owe you one.” Taehyun pleaded, “I really need to finish this paper, and I’m starving. I feel like I’m going to pass out. And if I pass out then I’ll miss Professor Lee’s deadline, and then I’ll get a zero on this stupid paper I’ve been writing for the past four hours, then I’ll fail his class, and <em> then </em>I’ll-”</p><p>“Okay, okay I get it!” Beomgyu said, pulling the covers off of himself as he regrettably got out of bed. He glared at the younger, “You will owe me for this.”</p><p>Taehyun just gave him a satisfied smile, handing him the money for the food before going back to his desk where his laptop sat. Sometimes, Beomgyu did not enjoy having his best friend as his roommate, these were one of those times. Begrudgingly, he shoved on some pants and slipped into a warm, oversized hoodie. He grabbed his keys and ID to their room, and glared at Taehyun one more time as the redhead waved him goodbye.</p><p>That was how he ended up at the convenience store a couple of minutes away from their university, at almost eleven o’clock at night. He grumbled to himself as he walked through the aisle, getting two bags of spicy ramen (Taehyun loves it spicy) and a couple of other snacks before heading up to the front to check out. The girl at the front looked just as dead inside as he felt, and he found a small bit of solace in that. She rang up the items and gave the price, Beomgyu fished Taehyun’s money out of his pocket and put it on the counter.</p><p>He cursed as he felt the wind blast his face as he opened the door, and Beomgyu grumbled to himself again, thinking about how nice and warm he could be if he was in his bed right now. He sighed to himself, walking down the sidewalk as he made his way back to their school. Bored and tired, he decided listening to music wouldn’t hurt as a way to pass the time. He put in his earbuds, humming to the melody of the song softly as he walked. </p><p>He was so engrossed in the song that he did, in retrospect, one of the dumbest things he’d ever done before. Beomgyu crossed the street, nodding along to the song. He didn’t hear the squeals of the tires or the blare of the horn from the car that was quickly approaching him. He didn’t notice anything until he looked up by chance, seeing an old man on the other side of the street waving and yelling at him frantically. Beomgyu’s eyebrows furrowed to showcase his confusion, before his gaze snapped to his right, staring at the pair of blinding white lights that came barreling towards him. He remembered the way his hair stood on end, the frozen horror that was one his face, the burst of pain that seemed to come from everywhere at once. The sickening <em> crunch </em>of his body as it flew into the air, the ground pulled from under his feet, before he was harshly re-acquainted with it as his body slammed into the ground. </p><p>He remembered feeling the searing pain racing up every nerve of his body, every shallow breath he took made it feel like he was trying to breathe fire. His head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. The shouts and screams of the people around him were all distorted around him like everything was moving in slow motion. He could feel something wet and warm pooling below him, and Beomgyu wheezed in agony. The pain was unbearable, and he could feel his vision beginning to get splotchy around the corners. But despite his blurry vision, he remembered seeing a young boy appear in front of him. He didn’t look like he was much older than him; he had long dark locks and wide eyes that would’ve shone with an aura of child-like innocence if it wasn’t for the pupils that were glowing red.</p><p><em> Red?  </em>Beomgyu’s brain was a little foggy, so maybe he was hallucinating this because he could feel himself moments away from losing consciousness. He looked away from the strange boy with glowing red eyes and up to the night sky, it was a full moon tonight. He heard the boy’s low voice as he spoke, chanting in a language that Beomgyu couldn’t understand, before his consciousness slipped away.</p><p>And everything went dark.</p>
<hr/><p>Beomgyu woke up with a start, jolting up immediately with a gasp. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he grasped his chest as he frantically looked around. It took him a moment to realize he wasn’t bleeding out in the middle of the street, but in a dark alleyway- </p><p>Wait. </p><p>He was <em> alive? </em></p><p>Beomgyu stopped panicking for a moment, really taking in his surroundings again. He had no idea where he was, but he was alone. He looked down at his clothes, which were still tattered with blood and dirt. He lifted his hood, peering down with a mix of shock and confusion at his smooth skin. Not a scratch in sight, and it didn’t feel like his lungs were burning every time he took a breath, actually he could breathe <em> normally.  </em></p><p>“What the hell?” Beomgyu mumbled out loud. His head still felt a little fuzzy, but other than that, he was fine.</p><p>But that was the problem. Wasn’t he just in an accident? He shouldn’t just be <em> fine </em>like this. Not that he’d rather be in excruciating pain, but none of this felt right to him. He pinched himself on the side, just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Something wasn’t adding up, how did he get here, with no injuries? The pain from the impact of that car was way too real to be just his imagination. And even if it was some wild, terrifying dream, shouldn’t he have woken back up in his room?</p><p>There was a soft crackling sound, as if someone stepped on a twig, and Beomgyu’s head immediately snapped in the direction. “Hello?” He called out frantically, “Is someone there?”</p><p>There was no response. Beomgyu was alone in this dark alley, but despite the darkness, he didn’t have to squint to see like he usually would. His vision was perfectly clear. </p><p>“I need to get out of here,” He mumbled to himself, checking his pockets to see if he had his phone. When he couldn’t find it, he looked around himself for a few minutes, before finally giving up and deciding to find the nearest payphone so he could call Taehyun. </p><p>When he tried to stand up to leave, he could feel a sharp crack of pain swarm inside his head, so strong that he collapsed to his knees. Beomgyu let out a painful, feeling something twist and burn inside his chest. One moment he was perfectly fine, and then the next he could feel himself throwing up blood. Or well, he <em> thought </em> it was blood, but when he looked down at the liquid that stained the ground and his clothes, he realized it was <em> black. </em></p><p>
  <em> What the hell?! </em>
</p><p>Beomgyu couldn’t stop coughing, the pain rising, but this was a different kind of pain from the one he suffered in the accident. This pain was white-hot and sweltering, it felt like his insides were heating up, his blood felt like it was boiling. More black liquid spilled from his lips as he kept coughing, he didn’t know why and he couldn’t stop it. His body was acting on impulse, as if it was trying to purge something inside of him. The pain only worsened the longer Beomgyu coughed, his sides starting to hurt and his throat burned. He blinked back tears that pricked the corner of his eyes, and they widened in terror when he saw his hands. His fingers were changing, ugly veins pulsing around them as his nails grew longer and sharper. </p><p>Panic started to bubble up in his chest, and Beomgyu bit down on his lip to try and stop the coughing. He only gasped when he felt pointy teeth prick his lip, and panicked even more. What was happening to him? Why was his body doing this to him? Beomgyu didn’t feel like himself anymore, he felt like he was turning into something darker, something <em> wicked. </em>A memory of red eyes flashed inside his head for a moment, but the memory was so murky that he couldn’t understand it. Beomgyu started to cry, the tears in the corner of his eyes falling and mixing with the blood that kept spilling from his lips. He buried himself in his hands, whimpering. He thought that he was going to die here, all alone where no one would be able to help or find him. </p><p>Then he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps that were coming his way. Soon enough, he could tell someone had arrived to his rescue. They were panting heavily from the run, they stopped moving for a moment, but then Beomgyu let out another painful whimper and the footsteps resumed. </p><p>“Hey, are you oka-”</p><p>Beomgyu threw up again, obsidian liquid spilling past his lips at an alarming rate. He coughed again afterwards. It was silent after that. Shakily, Beomgyu willed himself to lift his head from his hands, his whole body was shaking from the pain. </p><p>Beomgyu looked up to see perhaps the most beautiful guy he’s ever seen before staring down at him. He had long tawny hair that was messily pushed back, wide dark eyes, and full pink lips that were currently arranging themselves into a grimace. The shock left his eyes, and was replaced with something darker.</p><p>“I-” Beomgyu tried to speak but his throat was still strained from everything. It was just then that he noticed the long ass weapon the blonde guy was holding. “W-Wait, no-” He nervously stammered.</p><p>The blonde cut him off as he lunged at him, and Beomgyu’s heart sank. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hope you guys liked it! please leave a comment if you did, tell me what you think :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. step 2: get chased by a psycho</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>back with another chapter 😁   thank you for all the wonderful comments and kudos! I really appreciate you guys liking it so far, because it's been really fun to write.<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <strong>step two: get chased by a psycho</strong> </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>If someone ever went up to Beomgyu and told him that one day he would be hit by a car on his way back from a convenience store, wake up in an unfamiliar place coughing up blood and growing sharp nails, only to be met with a really hot guy with a really long and sharp sword who wants to kill him, Beomgyu would've simply laughed in their face. But now that he was faced with this exact reality, he could say with full confidence that it wasn’t a laughing matter. It was <em>terrifying</em> actually, and as Beomgyu watched the blonde swing his blade, everything felt like it was in slow motion again.</p><p>The dark-haired boy felt his whole body tense, the hairs on his body rising in the same way they did when he saw the blinding headlights. But this time, he didn’t just sit there in frozen fear like he usually would. It was like a switch had been activated inside him, he couldn’t explain what it was, but something told him to duck low to miss to arc of the blade, before springing up at a speed that felt inhumanely fast and dashing to the left, past the blonde boy in the midst of his confusion. Beomgyu’s heart was pounding in his ears, and for once he couldn’t feel the burning pain pulsing inside of him. That pain was replaced with a high buzzing feeling, probably adrenaline from how hard his heart was racing. </p><p>He caught his reflection of himself in one of the discarded bottles of liquor in the alleyway, and felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw his reflection. He was panting, mouth open and full of pointy teeth, his canines the most noticeable because they extended even farther than the rest of his teeth. But the most striking feature was the fact that his eyes were <em> red. </em>They were burning the same bright crimson that the boy from his hallucinations did. Beomgyu looked down at his shaking hands, still sharp and veiny. </p><p>He could feel his<em> pulse </em> in them.</p><p>“This isn’t happening,” The dark-haired boy said with a shaky breath, still staring at his hands as he frantically shook his head, “T-This isn’t real. This can’t be happening to me!”</p><p>The blonde guy had recovered from his initial surprise, turning around and aiming for Beomgyu again. Beomgyu barely managed to avoid what would’ve been a deadly strike, turning to bolt back down the alleyway. His panicky brain scrambled for an escape plan, <em> any </em>plan. He could hear his footsteps trailing after him, the scary blonde dude’s long legs quickly ate up the distance between them. Beomgyu pumped his arms faster, sprinting with all his might as he ignored the dull throb of pain that pulsed inside his lungs and made his calves ache. He made a promise to himself right then and there, that if he ever got out of this situation alive, he would take Taehyun’s offers to go to the gym more seriously. </p><p>Rounding the corner, Beomgyu turned into another unfamiliar alley, hoping that it was the exit but cursed profusely when he realized it was a dead end. He could hear cars and street life on the other side of the wall though, the sounds of everything around him felt  like they were amplified, yet much more precise. Placing his sharp nails into the dips of the brick wall, he gave him some leverage on a broken crate before pushing himself up. Beomgyu wasn’t fast enough though, because a hand grabbed the back of his hoodie, sharply pulling him back towards the ground. Beomgyu felt himself slam harshly on to the ground, and he groaned as pain raced up his spine. </p><p>“You’re not going anywhere.” The blonde guy said, his voice cold but his eyes burned with a deep fury as he leveled a glare at Beomgyu.</p><p>The dark-haired boy swallowed nervously. <em> This is it, </em> he thought to himself lamentably, <em> this is how I’m going to die.  </em></p><p>The familiar sense of fear was coming back, beginning to take over his body in shock  as the adrenaline drained away, and Beomgyu thought that his luck ran out. Squeezing his eyes shut, he prepared himself for the worst. Only thing was, the pain he expected never came. Instead there was a surprised shout, and Beomgyu’s eyes snapped open, only to widen in terror when he realized the reason the blonde guy hadn’t finished him off was because he was too busy trying to put out a fire that had started on his pant leg. <em> How </em> the fire got there, he wasn’t sure, but he watched the taller boy curse and grunt as he tried to shake it out. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be running for his life, and fumbled his way back onto his feet. Beomgyu scaled the wall again, this time successful as he swung his legs over and jumped down, nearly breaking his ankles at his clumsy landing. Panting heavily, Beomgyu looked around, relieved to be in a place full of people again, before dashing away.</p><p>He pushed himself into the first shop he could find, ignoring the bewildered looks he got as he went up to an older woman who was at the register. Her eyes widened in terrified shock at the dark-haired boy, and in retrospect Beomgyu could understand why she reacted like that. After all, he was probably covered in black-blood stains, his clothes battered and his eyes were blown wide with that blazing red color.</p><p> “Do you have a cell phone? I need to call someone, it’s an emergency!” The dark-haired boy pleaded frantically.</p><p>“A-Are you okay? Do you need me to call an ambulance?”</p><p>Beomgyu thought about that for a moment, and nodded quickly, “Yes, but I need to call someone fir-” His words were cut off with a pained gasp, and Beomgyu felt the searing pain from earlier beginning to come back. </p><p>
  <em> No, no no! Not right now! </em>
</p><p>“Sir, are you okay? Hello, sir?!”</p><p>Her voice was distorting, in fact everything around him was starting to blur around him, and Beomgyu felt his head swing. Somehow he ended up on the cold floor of that shop, the woman’s frantic screams the last thing he remembered before slipping into unconsciousness once again. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p><p>Yeonjun cursed lowly as he patted out the small flame that was slowly eating up his pant leg. Panting heavily, he dragged himself over to the wall before slumping beside it, staring down at his destroyed pant leg to inspect the damage. Other than some bruising, he seemed to be okay, luckily he managed to put it out before it caused any severe burns. He remembered from one of his debriefing classes, back when he was still training to be a hunter, about the magical abilities demons have. </p><p>All of them could manipulate fire, after all it was the element that created Hell, but that was only a basic ability. Depending on how old the demon was, or ‘upper-level demons’ as his organization calls them, they could do much more damage with their advanced demonic powers. It could range from mind reading, summoning, possession, teleportation, and those were just the few that Yeonjun had seen. The longer they live, the stronger they get, and the more refined their powers became. And judging by the way that demon acted, Yeonjun could tell he hadn’t been one for long. Another thing he learned from debriefing classes, was that all demons were human once. Over time, they were corrupted from sin and earthly desires until it consumed them, turning them into one of the Devil’s slaves. Yeonjun wasn’t sure on all the specific details, but the process was supposed to be extremely painful and agonizing, since their human soul would die and they would be cursed forever to live as a monster. </p><p>Such was the fate of a sinner.</p><p>After a few minutes of rest, Yeonjun found the strength to pull himself back on his feet, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing the most recent number.</p><p>Soobin picked up quickly, “What’s up?”</p><p>“We have a problem,” The blonde said morosely, getting straight to the point, “I found another demon, but he got away.”</p><p><em> “What?” </em>Yeonjun internally groaned as he prepared himself for the scolding, “Dude, how did you let him get away?”</p><p>“He set my damn leg on fire. Sorry if I was more concerned with saving one of my limbs.” He replied flatly.</p><p>Soobin sighed on the other line, “What level is he?”</p><p>“Lower-level, a fledgling most likely. It doesn’t look like he’s been a demon for long, he was crying in an alleyway when I found him.” Yeonjun answered, sheathing his blade and turning to exit the alleyway. </p><p>“Do you have a good physical description of him?” Soobin asked, there was the <em> clacking </em>sound of his long fingers against a keyboard. He must’ve been typing up a notice report for the higher-ups.</p><p>Yeonjun scratched the back of his neck as he thought, “A male. He looks our age, maybe a little younger. A couple of inches shorter than me, black hair and wide eyes. He was wearing a gray hoodie with something on it, but it was hard to see ‘cuz it was covered in blood. Maybe a university name? I think he might be in college.” The blonde stopped to think, “He’s in his demonic state right now, I saw his eyes. He climbed over a wall so he’s probably somewhere in the city, I don’t think he got too far yet.”</p><p>Soobin typed it all up, “Alright, I’ll let Seokjin know. He’s on duty and he’s the closest one to your area.”</p><p>“I can find him,” Yeonjun protested. </p><p>“Absolutely not,” Soobin said firmly, there was no room in his tone for argument, “You need to report to headquarters so we can look at your injuries.”</p><p>“...I’m not even <em> that </em>injured.” The blonde muttered sheepishly.</p><p>“If I don’t see your ass at headquarters in ten minutes, I will hunt you down myself Choi Yeonjun.” Soobin threatened.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah I get it. See you in ten.” Yeonjun said with a roll of his eyes, before hanging up the phone. He was really annoyed that he couldn’t catch that demon, how could he leave himself open to get attacked like that? Everyone knew demons manipulated fire, it was a rookie mistake. </p><p>Yeonjun shook his head, kicking a few pieces of glass with his boots in irritation. He wanted to go after that guy, he would’ve been the perfect capture to bring in for questioning. The longer they couldn’t find any answers, the more the human population was at risk. All he could do now was hope their senior hunter Seokjin would be able to find him. </p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>When he found his consciousness coming back to him, Beomgyu found himself staring at a bright white ceiling. There was the steady sound of a monitor beeping somewhere nearby, and the smell of antiseptic was almost nauseating. Beomgyu felt his vision clear, just as the door to his room opened and a familiar redhead came barging in, his eyes red and teary. </p><p>“Thank god you’re alive!” He wailed, immediately pulling the older into a crushing hug. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you weren’t okay!”</p><p>Beomgyu moaned softly from the hug, his hands weakly wrapping themselves around the redhead to awkwardly tap him, “I...I’m<em> not </em>going to be okay if you keep choking me like this.” He wheezed.</p><p>Taehyun immediately jolted away from him, as if his skin was poison, “Sorry! I was just so relieved.”</p><p>Now that Beomgyu could properly breathe, he sat up a little in his medical bed. He looked around the room for a moment, before looking down at himself. He had been changed out of his dirty clothes, his skin washed clean of the blood, and replaced with a pale blue gown. There was an IV in his arm, as well as other wires hooked up to his body to monitor his vitals. Beomgyu didn’t feel any of the excruciating pain he was in earlier, he felt...actually kind of normal.</p><p><em> Wait! </em>Beomgyu’s gaze snapped down to his hands, stunned to see that there weren’t any veiny, pointy nails. His nails returned to the short stubs they were, he moved his tongue around his mouth to find that his teeth weren’t razor-sharp either. There was just one more thing…</p><p>“Taehyun,” Beomgyu said, his voice was so hoarse it made him cringe, “Can you hand me your phone?”</p><p>The redhead shot him a inquisitive look, but handed him his phone anyway.</p><p>Beomgyu checked himself in the front-facing camera, his skin was a little paler and his hair was mussed, but there weren’t any gleaming red eyes staring back at him. They were back to their dull, ordinary brown color. A part of him felt relief, while the other part of him was confused. Just like the accident, everything disappeared like it never happened at all. </p><p>“What happened to me?” The dark-haired boy muttered to himself.</p><p>“That’s what I want to know,” Taehyun said, an accusing look in his eyes as he crossed his arms, “I only told you to go down the street to get some ramen. I waited for you for two hours and you didn’t show up. I called you so many times, it wasn’t until forty minutes ago that I got a call from your parents that you were at the hospital. They were so worried, they wanted to come down here but the doctors said there were no serious injuries.” Taehyun frowned a little, “Even though they found you with so much blood on you, you weren’t injured. They said you were perfectly fine. How is that? What happened to you, Beomgyu?”</p><p>Beomgyu blinked slowly, processing his best friend’s words. “I don’t know...I was in a car accident.”</p><p>Taehyun’s eyes widened, “<em>What?! </em> Somebody hit you?”</p><p>The dark-haired boy nodded slowly, “Yeah...or, at least I think I was. I’m not really sure, everything was kind of fuzzy. All I know is that I woke up in an alley and...and..” He shivered at the memory of that guy. The cold, murderous intent in his eyes. “I was attacked.”</p><p>“By who?”</p><p>“I...I don’t know,” Beomgyu admitted, looking down at his hands, “It was some guy with a sword.”</p><p>“A <em> sword </em>?” Taehyun sounded incredulous.</p><p>Beomgyu sighed, looking up at his best friend, “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what happened! I woke up in that alley after the accident and I was coughing and some crazy guy with a sword showed up! He almost killed me...I only escaped because I climbed a wall and ran away.”</p><p>He deliberately left out the part with the black blood, nails, and eyes. Taehyun was already looking at him as if he was debating the idea of calling the doctor back into the room. One crazy, exorbitant story at a time.</p><p>Taehyun looked torn, but he grabbed Beomgyu’s hand and held onto it, “Do you want to go to the police?”</p><p>Beomgyu shook his head, “Not right now, I just want to go home.”</p><p>The redhead sighed, “They won’t release you until tomorrow. They want to make sure there weren’t any internal injuries they overlooked.”</p><p>Beomgyu sighed again, laying back down on the pillow. He wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t anymore. At least Taehyun was with him now, he felt a lot better now that he wasn’t alone anymore.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em> ~ yeonjun ~ </em>
</p><p>Yeonjun walked through the heavy double doors, leading into the north hangar of the organization’s headquarters. It was such a secretive organization that Yeonjun didn’t even know the name of the organization, and he’s been working here for almost 4 years. He knows that it was started and funded by the government, since demons were not common knowledge to the public. And in order to prevent mass hysteria, all operations were done with the utmost discrepancy.  </p><p>
  <span>He walked down the long hall of the hangar, bypassing many people walking around. Some of them were hunters like himself, others worked in the intelligence department, gathering information for each demon sighting to alert the hunters. Some were specialists in certain fields- like in weapons and technology- and as Yeonjun walked into the weapons arsenal room, he handed his blade over to one of the said specialists before making his way to the medical bay, not surprised at all to see Soobin standing there waiting for him with his arms crossed. </span>
</p><p>There was a smirk on the taller’s face, “Glad to see you made it back in one piece.”</p><p>Yeonjun rolled his eyes as he shoved him playfully, “Har, har, har. You’re hilarious.”</p><p>“I know,” Soobin retorted, his smirk widening before it dropped as he looked the blonde up and down, “C’mon, let’s get you checked out by Haseul.”</p><p>Yeonjun groaned again, but he let himself get dragged by Soobin anyway. </p><p>Haseul, <span>another specialist in the medical field,</span> took one look at the limping blonde and shook her head with an exasperated sigh, “What did you do now?”</p><p>Yeonjun looked offended, “How is this my fault?”</p><p>“I swear, nobody spends more time in my med bay than you do,” Haseul said with a half-scowl as Soobin ushered him onto the medical cot. The brunette bent down, examining the marks on his leg, “You’re like a magnet for demons or something.”</p><p>The blonde chuckled wryly, “Thanks, I try.”</p><p>“Bring me some Silvadene. It’s not serious, but just in case I want to prevent infection while it's healing.” She said to Soobin, who immediately went scavenging around the rest of the room for the medical cream. She turned back to Yeonjun, and ordered with the straightest expression, “Take off your shirt.”</p><p>The blonde snorted, lazily arching an eyebrow, “That fast? At least take me on a date first.”</p><p>Haseul rolled her eyes at his antics, and Yeonjun snickered to himself before shaking off his coat and languidly tugging his black threadbare shirt over his head, putting on a show by rolling his broad, muscular shoulders and flexing his biceps just to be facetious. That earned him a scoff from the doctor, along with a stern smack to his uninjured shoulder. Yeonjun groaned dramatically.</p><p>“Be still, idiot.” Was Haseul’s only remark, before she leaned closer to examine the three puncture wounds with thin long scratches left over from his fight with the first demon. Yeonjun winced a little when he felt her cool hands on his shoulder, gently inspecting the wound before cursing under her breath, “He got you good, but the punctures aren’t deep. Thank god.”</p><p>Soobin finally came back with the creams, and a bottle of hydrogen Peroxide and bandages. Haseul beamed up at the taller, “You read my mind, thank you my perfect little helper. A spot is always welcomed in my med bay if you get tired of chasing after those monsters.” She gave an amused wink at the taller man before bending back down to dress Yeonjun’s wounds.</p><p>The blonde frowned, “What about me?”</p><p>The doctor snorted, “You enjoy thrill-seeking too much. Plus, you’d make a mess.”</p><p>“Wow, I’m hurt.”</p><p>“Good, now be still.”</p><p>Soobin chuckled to himself, pulling up a chair to sit beside Haseul as she worked. Once she was finished with him, she gave him the medicine and directions on how to use it, before threatening him bodily harm if she found out he wasn’t taking it. Yeonjun didn’t bother asking her how she would know if he wasn’t taking it, Haseul always had her mysterious ways. After they were done there, the two made their way back down the hall of the busy hangar. </p><p>“Did Jin find that rogue?” Yeonjun asked, curious.</p><p>Soobin shrugged casually, “I haven’t heard anything back from him since I told him. I think he’s still searching the area.”</p><p>He nodded at that, “There was something weird about that one though.”</p><p>“Weird how?”</p><p>Yeonjun scrunched his nose in thought, “I don’t know how to explain it, but his smell was a little different from regular demons. He still smelled like sulfur...but also something else. It also wasn’t super overbearing? He even didn’t immediately attack me when he saw me. He looked at me like he actually <em> wanted </em> my help,” He smacked his lips as he shrugged, “I don’t know, it was weird.”</p><p>Soobin hummed thoughtfully, “That <em> is </em>weird.”</p><p>“Yeah,” The blonde agreed bemusedly, losing interest in the subject, “Well now that I’m off duty, let’s go get some drinks!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thanks for reading! can y'all take a guess as to who is beomgyu's mysterious savoir? 😉</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. step 3: meet a weird guy in the library</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey guys 😁  I'm back with another chapter! Thank you sooo much for the comments/kudos/bookmarks you've given this story so far, it really means a lot to me. Enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong> <em>step three: meet a weird guy in the library</em></strong>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>The next day Beomgyu was discharged after the doctors reluctantly let him go, all of his scans showed back up to be normal, and there weren’t any crucial underlying complications. Taehyun stopped by their dorm room to give him a fresh set of clothes to change into when he was released. He still wanted him to go to the police about the sword guy, but Beomgyu still felt too exhausted, all he wanted to do was launch himself under his covers and sleep for the next 12 hours. His cellphone was still missing so Beomgyu had to borrow Taehyun’s in order to call his parents and let them know that he was okay, which of course took a million “don’t worry’s” and “I’m okay’s” before they let him go. When they finally did return back to their dorm, Beomgyu leapt onto his bed with every intent to go to sleep. But unfortunately, sleep evaded him for a while, a pair of haunting red eyes flashing inside his head every time he closed his eyes.</p><p>It had been almost a week since the incident, the trauma from that experience was starting to dim down and Beomgyu slept much easier at night. He was starting to get back into his normal routine of things; wake up and get breakfast with Taehyun, go to class, go to the art studio to work on his midterm project, go to his work-study job at the library, get dinner with Taehyun, and go to sleep. It was a pretty ordinary routine for a sophomore with an arts major, and the perfect way to get him to stop thinking about those events. Specifically, the image of himself that he saw when he looked at his reflection in the bottle of that alleyway. That reflection <em> wasn’t </em> him, it looked like some wicked, malevolent being that wore the same face as him.</p><p>It had to have been a part of the hallucination too, could he have been drugged? Yeah, that would make sense. He was probably drugged which would explain how he ended up there in the first place...  </p><p>At least, that’s what Beomgyu kept telling himself. They say if you tell yourself a lie enough times, you’ll eventually start to believe it’s true.</p><p>“Hey.” A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and Beomgyu turned to see a familiar boy with shaggy dark hair and wide eyes that were staring directly at him as he waved his hand in front of Beomgyu’s face. It was Jung Wooyoung, another fellow sophomore who worked at the library like he did.  “Did you hear me dude?”</p><p>“Hmm?” Beomgyu mumbled unintelligibly, then shook his head with a nervous chuckle, “Ah, sorry I was thinking about something. What did you say?”</p><p>“It’s cool. Mrs. Seo wanted us to split up, one of us can stay here at the check-out while the other one re-stacks those.” Wooyoung said, pointing towards the cart filled with books a couple of feet away from them.</p><p>“Oh,” Beomgyu blinked and then nodded, “Yeah, I can do that.”</p><p>Wooyoung raised an eyebrow, “You okay with that?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s no problem.” Beomgyu turned away before the other boy could question him further, maneuvering the cart out of the check-out desk and going towards the aisles of books. He absent-mindedly put the books back in their right place, wondering what he and Taehyun should get for dinner when he felt someone tap on his shoulder from behind. </p><p>There was a guy standing behind him, considerably much taller than him with a very youthful face. But it wasn’t his height or even how close he was standing to him that startled Beomgyu, it was the fact that he <em> recognized </em>this guy’s face. It was the same face he saw in his hallucinations when he was in the car accident. His memories which were blurry before seemed to clear up instantly, as if he was looking at it in Ultra HD. He could remember it all perfectly now; the horrible pain he was in as he lay bleeding in the middle of the street, the way that everything was distorted around him, and the way his bright, compelling crimson eyes stared down at him as if they were looking into his soul.</p><p>Beomgyu sucked in a surprised breath, his heart suddenly accelerating and his legs felt a little wobbly. He barely restrains himself from turning and running, because a part of him is still holding on to a slim piece of denial. There was absolutely <em> no </em> way that Beomgyu could accept what he just saw, because if he did, he would have to force himself to acknowledge everything that happened afterwards. He would have to acknowledge the fact that he might’ve become a monster.</p><p>“Hello! My name is HueningKai, but you can just call me Kai.” The taller said with a bright smile. </p><p>Beomgyu blinked up at him in stunned silence. He wasn’t sure if this ‘Kai’ guy noticed his obvious discomfort or not, but he had to remind himself he was still on duty. So he straightened himself up and put on his best, fake customer smile. “Hello Kai, is there something I can help you with?”</p><p>The boy looked curious as he gave the shorter a once-over, raising his hand to his chin as he hummed thoughtfully, “Not really, it’s kind of the opposite actually.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Huh?”</p><p>Kai chuckled at that, the sound whimsical and airy. “I’m here to help <em> you</em>.”</p><p>“Umm,” Beomgyu was beginning to get weirded out, “Okay then...I’ll get out of your way.” He said, trying to excuse himself from this strange and weird conversation. When he tried to move around the taller boy, Kai moved quickly in front of him to block his way. Beomgyu tried this a couple of more times, Kai blocking him every time, before panic and irritation started to swell up inside him.</p><p>“What do you want from me?” Beomgyu demanded with a glare, his heart still pounding in his chest.</p><p>Kai looked around them for a second, as if checking to make sure they weren’t being overheard before he bent down to be at face-level with the shorter. Beomgyu immediately jolted back at the invasion of his personal space, but before he could protest Kai raised one finger to his mouth to indicate silence. Beomgyu just stared at him with bewilderment.</p><p>“I don’t want to startle you,” The taller boy started off, a more austere expression replaced the playful one he wore earlier, “But there’s something really important I need to tell you.”</p><p>Beomgyu raised an eyebrow and hesitantly asked, “What is it?” </p><p>Kai shook his head, “Not here though! We should go somewhere more private.”</p><p>“I don’t know you, <em> why </em>would I follow you anywhere?”</p><p>“Um...because it’s important?”</p><p>Beomgyu’s gaze hardened, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave this library immediately. If not, I will call security.”</p><p>Kai looked panicked. Beomgyu tried to side-step him again but the taller blocked him again. <em> Ugh, why was he so freaking tall? </em>The dark-haired boy thought with annoyance.</p><p>“Wait! Okay, I’ll tell you here. Just hear me out for a second, please?” Kai’s eyes widened as he brought his clasped hands up in a pleading motion. Beomgyu didn’t like how endearing he looked with an almost pout forming on his lips. His brain was having a hard enough time trying to distinguish his angelic, child-like features from the ghastly, monster-like features from his memories. </p><p>The fear was there; it simmered inside of him, threatening to spill over, but Beomgyu managed to swallow enough of it down so that he could stand there and stare up at the other boy. “What is it?” He asked again, his voice much quieter. </p><p>Kai’s eyes brightened in excitement, and he took a moment to compose himself with a deep breath before looking at the shorter boy. “Okay, first thing I need you to do is brace yourself and not immediately shoot me down, because the next thing I’m gonna tell you is going to sound a little crazy.” </p><p><em> It couldn’t get more crazier than the past few days I’ve had</em>,  Beomgyu thought to himself. </p><p>“You braced yourself?”</p><p>Beomgyu nodded.</p><p>“No seriously, you need to be like, a hundred-percent ready for what I’m about to tell you,” Kai looked thoughtful for a moment, “Well, I guess no one could be one hundred-percent ready for that. Seventy at most.”</p><p>“Just spit it out.” Beomgyu said, feeling exasperated. The taller’s personality was a bit too eccentric for him right now.</p><p>“Okay!” The taller boy took another deep breath, “You’re a demon.”</p><p>Forget what Beomgyu just said, this was <em> definitely </em>the craziest thing he’s heard.</p><p>
  <em> “What?”  </em>
</p><p>“I told you to brace yourself, I know it sounds crazy but it’s true!” Kai said, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. “Listen, do you remember that night you got into that accident?”</p><p>Beomgyu froze at the reminder, his blood turning cold.</p><p>Kai took his silence as a way to elaborate, “You do, don’t you? Well, I was there that night. You were hurt really badly and it didn’t look like the ambulance would be there in time so...I kind of took things into my own hands. It was a risky move, but it was the only way I could think of to save you.”</p><p>“No…” Beomgyu muttered, his eyes widening as more memories kept flashing inside his head. </p><p>The taller looked apologetic, “I had to give you my blood, your heart beat was weak and I was afraid you weren’t gonna make it in time to get to the hospital.”</p><p>“No.” Beomgyu’s voice wavered a little as he shook his head, he didn’t even he began to back up. </p><p>Kai didn’t move from his spot, “It was a really low shot at working, but it <em> did </em> work. I was so relieved, but there were too many humans around and I knew it would look strange if I just left you there. So when you passed out I carried you, I was going to take you to the hospital but..” The taller looked uneasy for a moment, he bit his bottom lip, “Umm, something <em> urgent </em>happened. I couldn’t take you there so I left you somewhere where I thought you would be safe. Sorry about that by the way, I came back to get you when the urgent issue was solved, but you were gone.”</p><p><em> “No!” </em>Beomgyu snapped, jolting in terror when he felt his back connect with the hard wooden bookshelf behind him. “S-Stop talking, you’re lying!”</p><p>Kai looked taken aback, “I told you, it’s gonna sound crazy but I’m telling the trut-”</p><p>“Stop! <em> Please </em> stop!” Beomgyu could hear the franticness in his voice, his breaths shaky and uneven. He was remembering waking up in the alley, he remembered the pain, the ineffable amount of <em> fear </em>he felt. He didn’t want to be reminded of that time, he hated thinking about it. Beomgyu felt like he was on the verge of crying, “Stop…” he whispered, his voice shaky as he hung his head low.</p><p>A demon? What was he supposed to say to that? If it wasn’t for that fact that Beomgyu was there, he wouldn’t believe a single word the younger boy was saying. How was that even possible? Demons didn’t really exist, they were just fictional beings out of fairy tales and scary stories. How was Beomgyu supposed to believe that?</p><p>As if to answer his own question, Beomgyu felt something shift remarkably inside of him. He felt his fingers changing, his gums flaring at pointy teeth began to poke out of his mouth. He could feel himself changing, his blood heating up as if it was a kettle of boiling water. But there was no way he could deny it this time, Beomgyu definitely was not the same person he was before that fateful night. </p><p>“You’re in your demonic state right now.” Kai’s voice was quiet.</p><p>The dark-haired boy’s bewildered gaze snapped up at the sound of his voice. He looked at the taller for a split second, before pulling his phone out of his pocket and turning on the camera roll. True to Kai’s word, Beomgyu was staring at glowing crimson pupils. His grip was so hard on his phone that his knuckles turned white, and the glass around his nails cracked into thin, jagged lines- not hard enough to completely shatter. Beomgyu dropped his phone in shock, staring down at it as if it were the monster instead.</p><p>“Calm down, it’s okay.” Kai tried to comfort him, but Beomgyu just covered his face with hands, he could feel his shoulders shaking with the anxiety building up inside him.</p><p>But as quickly as the transformation started, it stopped and when Beomgyu opened his eyes, he was back to normal. He stared down at his hands in astonishment for a couple of minutes, before he looked back up at the taller.</p><p>“W-What just happened to me?” He asked quietly.</p><p>“You were so distressed you activated your demonic state. That’s the natural state of a demon,” Kai explained, “Or well, actually if you were a <em> full </em>demon you’d have horns and a tail. In order to blend in with humans, demons hide their demonic features, it’s all completely controlled by will. Usually for us, we have to concentrate to keep our features hidden...but for you, I think it’s the opposite. You are naturally in your human state, which is interesting.”</p><p>“You’re not making any sense to me.” </p><p>“Taehyung-hyung always explains these things better than I do,” The taller boy muttered with a shrug, “Anyways, I-” Kai stiffened, his eyes unfocused for a moment before a frown broke onto his thin lips, “I have to go, but we can talk another time.” </p><p>He turned to leave, but in a movement that even surprised Beomgyu himself, he grabbed the taller’s sleeve to stop him.</p><p>“Wait!”</p><p>Kai turned back to him with a quizzical expression.</p><p>“Is it...is it really true what you said? Am I really a d-demon?”</p><p>“Half-demon, to be exact.” Kai responded, the familiar playful glint in his eyes before they turned serious again, “Don’t worry Beomgyu, I’ll contact you again soon. The transitioning period is always the hardest, but I’ll help you get through it.”</p><p>Beomgyu processed the taller’s words, nodding after a moment. “How do you know my name?”</p><p>The mischievous look was back as Kai smirked, “I can read minds.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s eyes widened.</p><p>“Nah, I’m just playing. I saw it on your ID when I saved you.” Kai looked around again before turning with a wave, “I’ll see you!”</p><p>And with that, the taller brunette was gone, leaving Beomgyu standing speechless in the middle of a library aisle.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p><p>The blonde found himself  frowning at his bowl of noodles, as if it were the one who personally offended him. Across from him, Soobin was slurping up his own bowl eagerly. </p><p>“What’s up with you now?” Soobin asked a few moments later, “Still pouting over not catching that demon?”</p><p>Yeonjun rolled his eyes with a scoff, “I’m <em> not </em>pouting.”</p><p>“You literally have your lip jutted out. That’s pouting.”</p><p>The blonde purposely sucked his bottom lip in, before shaking his head with a sigh.  He began to stir his noodles with his chopsticks idly. </p><p>“I thought Seokjin got one of them.”</p><p>“He did, but it wasn’t the one that I saw a couple of days ago.” Yeonjun said.</p><p>“Why is it bugging you so much?” The taller asked, genuinely curious.</p><p>“I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling about all of this.” The blonde admitted, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. He couldn’t explain it with words, but something about the appearance of that strange demon didn’t sit right with him. It caused an eerie, uncanny feeling to settle in his stomach. He hadn’t felt this unnerved and on edge since the night his mother had died. The unpleasant memory flashed inside his mind like a light bulb, bits and pieces of that night coming back to him. </p><p>
  <em> He was walking back home, there was a basketball game at his highschool so he was coming home pretty late, but he already texted his mother in advance so she wouldn’t worry. He was rounding the corner of his neighborhood when he noticed a man in a black trench coat pass him by. Yeonjun wouldn’t have paid him any mind, if he hadn’t noticed the glowing crimson eyes. He gasped out loud, his eyes widening when the man made direct eye-contact with him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It didn’t last more than a few moments, but it felt like an eternity with the way the man stared at him. Slowly, Yeonjun felt that eerie sensation began to churn in his stomach. The hairs on his arms rose, something inside his body flipping like a switch and set him up for a fight or flight. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The man just smirked at him, as he passed him by. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Belatedly, Yeonjun walked up the steps to his house, digging for the keys in his pockets when he noticed that the door was left cracked open. Yeonjun thought it was strange, and the sinking, eerie feeling inside him only worsened.   </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He only made it a few steps inside the house, walking into the living room to let his mother know he was home when he saw her lying on the floor, bleeding out from several wounds. He remembered the ear-piercing scream he let out. </em>
</p><p>“Yeonjun?”</p><p>The blonde was ripped out of the nightmarish memory, he was no longer inside his childhood home, but in the quaint little ramen shop with his best friend. He blinked up at Soobin, realizing a little belatedly that the taller was trying to talk to him.</p><p>“Are you okay? You started zoning out.” Soobin said, looking concerned.</p><p>“I’m fine.” The blonde muttered shortly. </p><p>Soobin looked like he wanted to question him more, but before he could, his phone went off with a soft beeping sound. Both of them knew what that sound meant, and Yeonjun immediately began to get out of his chair while Soobin just sighed.</p><p>“Time for work,” The taller mumbled.</p><hr/><p>The blonde cursed to himself as he came to a clumsy stop, hands on knees as he panted heavily. He was <em> so close </em>this time! </p><p>He got another alert to demon activity a couple of blocks away from that warehouse in the more desolated district of the city. The smell of sulfur was almost nauseating with how strong it smelled, and Yeonjun knew there was more than just one. To be cautious, he did reconnaissance first, climbing on top of a low building with uneven roof tiles to peak over the wall that separated the alleyway. He even caught a glimpse at them; there were 3 demons, two of them dressed in subtle dark clothes while the tallest (and youngest as it looked like to him) was dressed conspicuously in a bright pastel pink hoodie and light-wash jeans. They seemed to be having a serious conversation, if the hard looks the two older demons were throwing the younger were to go by. Yeonjun briefly wondered what they were discussing and if it could help him figure out what the demons were planning, but he was sadly too far away to hear properly. If there was one thing he would be jealous of, it would be demon’s acute sense of hearing, sight, and smell.</p><p>Yeonjun unsheathed his blade as swiftly and as quietly as he could, but apparently he wasn’t enough, because the younger demon’s head snapped up immediately, his gaze finding the blonde without much effort. </p><p>“Hunter!” He yelled, alerted.</p><p><em> Well shit. </em> Yeonjun sighed as he got up quickly, running towards the edge of the low roof to jump down, maybe if he was fast enough he could get one of them. He aimed for the shorter demon with a rather unique shade of minty green hair, but he should’ve known something was up when the man didn’t try to run away. He simply smirked at him, his eyes morphing into that burning red before he disappeared altogether. Yeonjun froze, startled for a moment, before he huffed in annoyance, <em> of course </em>that guy had the power of teleportation.</p><p>Turning on his feet quickly, he raced after the youngest one who took off in another direction. There were frantic calls for the demon’s name, but he simply waved them off with a hand.</p><p>“I can shake him off,” He said to the others before he looked at Yeonjun with a playful smirk, “Hey hunter, let’s see how long you can keep up!”</p><p>The blonde scoffed to himself. <em> Cocky brat. </em></p><p>When he turned back he seemed to run even faster, and Yeonjun suddenly regretted going on this mission solo. He chased him around the alleyways for a couple of minutes, almost nicking him with his blade a couple times with some wide swoops, but the irritable demon always managed to stay out of range. He mocked him too, every time Yeonjun missed which only served to make him more pissed. The demon turned a sharp corner, and the blonde followed him with determination, only to freeze again when he realized no one was in the alleyway. It was a dead end.</p><p>There were the sounds of airy laughter, and Yeonjun turned around sharply, glaring up at the source of the laughter, which was standing on top of the roof adjacent to him. </p><p>The demon smirked down at him, “What? You’re the only one that can use roofs?”</p><p>Yeonjun growled in annoyance, immediately looking around for a way to get up there but there was nothing. Not even a ledge or something, how did that demon get up there so fast anyway? A sharp whistle brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see that the denim was back on the ground, now at the entrance of the dead end. He gave the blonde a mock-salute before turning and running off again. Yeonjun cursed again.</p><p>That was how he ended up panting up in a random alleyway, annoyed because this was the <em> second </em>time he let a target get away. He definitely was not looking forward to telling Soobin he messed up again. God, he was never going to hear the end of it-</p><p>
  <em> Wait. </em>
</p><p>Yeonjun froze in his spot, sniffing the air. The smell of sulfur was still around, which confused him because he assumed those demons would be long gone by now. It was that weird smell again, like it was diluted by something else- the smell was <em> familiar. </em>A vision of a crying boy with red eyes flashed inside the blonde hunter’s head, and he thought that maybe this mission wouldn’t be a total waste of time afterall. </p><p>He tracked the smell, it was faint but as Yeonjun followed the trail it was gaining strength. Oddly enough, it led him out of the abandoned buildings and into the more populated part of the city. The blonde frowned to himself, it was always a little harder to hunt them when they were in public areas. His job was supposed to be a secret afterall, and it would be kind of hard to explain to the authorities why he had to carry around a heavy ass sword strapped to his belt if he got caught again. The blonde grimaces at the unwanted invasion of a memory from his earlier days, he had been clumsily chasing a demon downtown and ran right into a police officer. It took a lot of pleading, and Soobin coming down to the precinct to smooth-talk the officers into letting him go. Soobin held that incident over his head for <em> months. </em> </p><p>Yeonjun pushed his inner musing aside as he found himself standing outside of a convenience store. He pushed open the glass door, the bell above it jingling as he stepped inside. He bowed politely to one of the workers who greeted him, before heading off into the aisle, trying to sniff out the scent as discreetly as possible. The odd smell was incredibly strong, and when he turned an aisle his suspicions were confirmed. The ravenette boy was bent down, looking at a bag of chips with great interest, when his head suddenly snapped up, as if he sensed his presence. Yeonjun quickly ducked back into another aisle, trying to decide the best way to get to him. He decided to wait outside of the convenience store to ambush him, placing himself beside the dumpster.</p><p>His target came out of the shop a couple of minutes later, happily munching on the chips. He never saw it coming; Yeonjun reached over and snatching him by the back of his hoodie, dragging him behind the dumpster and out of the public’s eye. Yeonjun pinned him against the wall, watching as the dark-haired boy’s gaze went from surprised to terrified. He dropped the chips he was holding.</p><p>“Well well well,” The blonde drawled with a half-smirk, “Just the demon I wanted to see.”</p><p>“Please,” The guy whispered shakily, “I-I didn’t do anything, j-just leave me alone.”</p><p>Yeonjun’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the genuine amount of fear that came out of the guy’s low voice as he spoke. Demons don’t look this afraid, at least, not until they are on the receiving end of his blade. </p><p>“W-What do you want from me?” He demanded, trying to glare up at the blonde but his voice still trembled.</p><p>Yeonjun cocked his head slightly, looking down at the ravenette warily, “Answer this question and maybe I’ll spare you. Why does your kind keep convening at that warehouse? What are you planning?”</p><p>The guy looked confused, “What?”</p><p>The blonde narrowed his eyes, “Don’t play dumb. I know you’re planning something.”</p><p>“Look, I really don’t know what you’re talking about-<em> gah!” </em>The dark-haired boy cut his own self off with a startled shout as Yeonjun grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting him a couple of inches off the ground, glaring at him fiercely for proper intimidation. </p><p>“Don’t play games with me,” The hunter hissed, causing the other to flinch as his grip tightened, “Tell me what you know <em> now </em>.”</p><p>But before the dark-haired boy could say anything, Yeonjun felt something- or more accurately <em> someone- </em>hit him in the back of his head with enough force to stun him. He dropped the demon in shock, before he felt his legs be taken out from under him. With a rough grunt he collapsed gracelessly to the ground, staring up in shock at the person who attacked him from behind. It was the same guy he was chasing earlier. Yeonjun could laugh at how unlucky he was.</p><p>“You again?” Yeonjun groaned, feeling a sharp sense of pain race up the back of his skull. Just how hard did this guy hit him?</p><p>The cheeky bastard smirked down at him with that irritating chuckle, “Looks like you lost to me <em> again, </em> Hunter! Hmm, you’re not really good at this are you? Maybe you should think about a change in profession.”</p><p><em> “K-Kai?” </em>A bewildered voice gasped out, and the ravenette turned his attention from Yeonjun to the frightened guy a couple of feet away.</p><p>His face morphed into concern, “Beomgyu! You're okay, right?”</p><p>“I...I think so.”</p><p>Yeonjun grunted in annoyance, trying to get back up but he was slammed back down on the dirty ground, this time on his chest by another demon who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. When Yeonjun lifted his head to glare up at him, his suspicions were confirmed; it was the same demon with the mint-colored hair. The other demon with dark hair was here too, and Yeonjun cursed his luck again. He was good, but he couldn’t take on <em> this </em>many at once. The mint-colored one pushed his face back to the ground, climbing on top of his body and effectively immobilizing the hunter. </p><p>“Great, now we have to deal with him,” The other demon muttered before turning to shoot a stern look at the one named ‘Kai’, “You better be lucky you’re my favorite.”</p><p>Kai chuckled nervously somewhere about him.</p><p>“What should we do with him?” The one holding him down asked, “Should we kill him?”</p><p>“Yoongi we’re in public,” The other demon said with a hint of exasperation, “Just...let’s get out of here first, there’s too many humans around.”</p><p>There was a small moment of silence, and then without warning there was another blow to Yeonjun’s head, effectively rendering him unconscious. The last thought in his head was how ironic it all was; he wanted to capture a demon to bring them in for questioning but he got captured instead.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hehe everyone that guessed kai were right! thanks for reading as usual, leave a comment if ya want!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. step 4: somehow end up in a demon coven?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>helloo, back again with a chapter. get ready for some heavy exposition because PHEW 😭As always thank you very much for all of the feedback, I really appreciate it so much!! Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <strong>step four: somehow end up in a demon coven?</strong> </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>Beomgyu is <em> not </em>having a good day. </p><p>Now, he’s had some pretty bad days in his time- like the time Beomgyu fell asleep and forgot he had a bioscience paper due at 11 PM and hadn’t woken up from his nap till 10:15 PM- that was a pretty stressful time. Or the time when he had this project for his oil canvas paintings class; he was almost finished with his canvas when he decided to get up and go get some quick lunch at the cafe in the building across from the arts building, and could only stare in unbridled horror when he realized someone had accidentally knocked some paint over his work. He had to spend the next 5 hours re-painting, and Beomgyu never wished so much karma on whoever knocked the paint down (without even cleaning it up!) in his life. No seriously, he’s<em> still </em>upset about that, and he hoped whoever the culprit is was suffering just as much as he had to. </p><p>But, he’ll digress. Anyway, if there was a contest for what day could be the irrefutably <em> worst </em>day he’s ever had the misfortune of experiencing, that day would be today. Why? Because not only was this the day his worst fear of becoming a monster was confirmed, he had been attacked by the crazy hot blonde guy (again) and was saved in the nick of time, just to be hauled off with a group of random, but oddly attractive strangers who Kai claimed to be were his friends. </p><p>Beomgyu flinched when the one named ‘Yoongi,’ had hit the blonde hunter in the back of the head, causing a strangled gasp to escape him before his eyes closed and his body went limp under him. </p><p>“For <em> Hell’s </em> sake, Yoongi!” The other one with long, wavy black hair muttered, looking more annoyed than alarm at the display of violence. “The whole point of capturing him was not to kill him.”</p><p>“I didn’t kill him,” Yoongi grumbled back, staying on top of the blonde for another moment before finally climbing off him, and pulled the blonde over his shoulder in a way that was both effortless and surprising seeing as the blonde guy was taller than him. “He’ll be alright, he’ll just be out for a couple of hours.”</p><p>“Right,” The other man replied dryly, before turning his stern glare to Kai, “Now, <em> you </em>have some explaining to do!”</p><p>The younger chuckled sheepishly, “C’mon hyung, I told you I didn’t have a choice!”</p><p>“You need to learn how to be more responsible with your abilities,” The other man went on as if he didn’t hear Kai’s protest, “Just because you are a powerful, immortal being doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want, there are certain regulations in place.” He raised one finger, “First and foremost, not turning random mortals.”</p><p>“But, he was going to die-”</p><p>“What did I just say?” There was a stiff sternness to his deep voice that made Beomgyu shiver involuntarily. </p><p>Even Kai paused, another protest on his lips, before he dropped his head and shoulders with a sigh. “I’m sorry hyung, I won’t do it again.”</p><p>The ravenette looked satisfied with the younger’s apology, and he turned his stern gaze to Beomgyu, which made him flinch at the sudden attention. But the hardness in his dark eyes quickly melted as he took in the terrified boy, and he let out a small sigh before putting a friendly smile on his face.</p><p>“We haven’t been introduced yet, my name is Taehyung,” He said in a light tone, his whole demeanor seeming to change in a manner of seconds as he held out his hand.</p><p>“U-Um,” Beomgyu stammered a bit, staring at the taller before finally realizing he wanted to shake hands and nervously held out his own, “I’m Beomgyu.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you Beomgyu,” Taehyung with that friendly boxy smile of his, before his lips pulled into a frown, “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. I know you’ve been put into a lot of strife recently, I’m very sorry for that.”</p><p>He wasn’t sure how to respond to the older, so he just nodded awkwardly.</p><p>“So, Kai has informed you of your transformation?” Taehyung asked.</p><p>“Y-Yeah.”</p><p>“I’m sure you have a lot of questions about that, we’re here to help you with that,” he said, gesturing between himself and the two others, “But before we can talk about that, we need to go somewhere else. There are too many humans around here.”</p><p>Beomgyu was hesitant for obvious reasons, he didn’t know any of these strange men (he had only met Kai two days ago). While he was finally coming around to the idea of being a demon, this was all still in the realm of absurdity. He snapped his gaze to the hand that laid on his shoulder gently, before looking up at Kai who looked at him with reassurance.</p><p>“It’s okay Beomgyu, you can trust us. All we want to do is help you.”</p><p>“Kai is right,” Taehyung added with a nod, “We’re partly responsible for what happened to you, we want to make up for it by helping you control your demonic side.” </p><p>Beomgyu bit his lip in uncertainty, his gaze flitting from Kai’s honest brown orbs, to Taehyung’s careful gaze, and to Yoongi’s rather indifferent stare before settling on the unconscious blonde in his arms. A spark of fear raced up his spine at the memory of all the times he’d try to kill him. He did <em> not </em>feel like going through that again.</p><p>“W-What about him?” Beomgyu stuttered, shakily raising a hand to point at the blonde.</p><p>“Oh, him?” Yoongi was the first to respond, hiking the man a little higher up his shoulder like he was talking about the weather and not a crazy person who tried to kill him, “Don’t worry about him, he won’t be able to hurt you. You’ll be fine.”</p><p>Beomgyu was still skeptical, but after a couple of minutes he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, “Where are we going?”</p><p>“You won’t regret this!” Kai said excitedly, bouncing on his feet.</p><p>One look from Taehyung mellowed him out though, “Well, normally we wouldn’t let outsiders in because it’s a secret safehouse…” Beomgyu stiffened from beside Kai. What did that mean? Would they knock him out too? Taehyung seemed to read the panic on the shorter’s face and quickly added, “But since this is an unusual circumstance, I suppose we can’t help it. Don’t worry, we have another way to still keep the location confidential.” </p><p>As if on cue, Yoongi moved closer to them and Beomgyu stared in confusion as both Taehyung and Kai grabbed onto some part of the mint haired man’s body. Yoongi looked at him, “Grab a hold of me, kid.”</p><p>“Huh?” He raised an eyebrow, “Why?”</p><p>A slight smirk crept onto his lips, “It’s always a rough ride for first-timers.”</p><p>“Yoongi is going to teleport us.” Taehyung explained.</p><p>Beomgyu’s jaw dropped, “T-<em>Teleport?!” </em></p><p>“Yep, and he can take whoever is touching him with him so make sure you hold on tight!” Kai added. </p><p>Beomgyu just stared at the mint-colored hair man in disbelief, before remembering that his present company were not humans. <em>They were demons...just like me? Does that mean they could really help me? </em>He internally debated the idea, before finally reaching out to grab a hold of the shorter man’s sleeve. The last thing he heard was an excited whoop from Kai before the world around him was sucked away.</p>
<hr/><p>Just as the world disappeared, it reappeared all around Beomgyu, but he wasn’t in the alley behind the dumpster of his favorite convenience store. Instead, he found himself standing beside a field with grass so tall that it would go up to his waist if he would stand in it. They were standing on a dark dirt path, which led to an old, abandoned house. Overgrown vines crawled all over the chipped, beige-painted walls. The windows were painted over with black and various amounts of broken glass and trash littered the dying patch of grass that sat next to the house. If it could even be called a home was debatable, it looked more like one of those spooky decrepit houses that Beomgyu would see in those horror movies he watched with Taehyun.</p><p>But before he could comment on the suspicious residence, he felt a surge of nausea wash over him, and he immediately crumpled to his knees, his head felt like it was swinging back and forth rapidly like he was on an amusement park ride.</p><p>He felt someone pat his shoulder gently before saying, “It’s okay, just take a couple of deep breaths, the feeling will pass.” It was Kai’s voice hovering above him.</p><p>When Beomgyu finally felt the nauseous feeling reside, he shakily stood back up to his feet, rubbing the side of his head with a groan, “What was that?”</p><p>“A side effect of teleportation is nausea,” Taehyung was the one to reply, he at least looked a little apologetic, “Sorry bout that, once you get used to it the nausea will go away.”</p><p>Beomgyu let out a breathless huff, “Right.” Just another notch to add to his bad day. “Where are we?”</p><p>“Well, we can’t really say but it’s not super far from Seoul.” Kai replied.</p><p>The three demons began to walk down the dirt path that made its way up to the dark, wooden steps of the house. Beomgyu still thought it looked super creepy, but he didn’t have much choice other than to follow. Taehyung rapt his knuckles against the door three times, there was a moment of silence, before the door opened with a low creak. A guy with a mop of brown hair appeared behind the door, with wide round eyes that made him look really young. But Beomgyu could tell, the boy behind the door was older than him- probably by a little bit though- by his large build and defined jawline and cheekbones that came with maturity. His already wide eyes seemed to widen even more when he glanced at Beomgyu, and then the limp blonde man in Yoongi’s hands.</p><p>“Uh…” There was a question in his gaze as he looked between the two, “I thought Kai only turned one person?”</p><p>Taehyung gave an exasperated huff, “There is, don’t worry. The other one’s a hunter.”</p><p>This did not seem to clear up any confusion. From the looks of it, it only made him more confused. But the brunette opened the door anyway, allowing all of them to walk through. </p><p>The first thing Beomgyu noticed about the room he was in, was how dark it was. It seemed all-encompassing, and very unnatural. The sun was only setting outside, but this room felt like they were already in the darkest parts of the night. If it weren’t for the fact that he was a little supernatural, Beomgyu was sure he wouldn’t be able to see anything at all. Did all demons like to be in darkness like this?</p><p>“Follow me.” Taehyung’s deep voice came from somewhere to his right, and Beomgyu jumped a little at the sound of the door closing, before moving forward.</p><p>Small candles were the only source of light, which were hung around the walls. Beomgyu could barely make out the silhouettes of the sparse furniture that decorated the rooms, and he tried his best not to run into anything as they made their way to another door across the room. The door opened to even more darkness, and the groan of the old wood seemed to echo all around them as if they were in a cave. Beomgyu realized, a little belatedly, that they were walking down a staircase, and the deeper they went, the more his ears could pick up on something. It was faint and a little bit blurry at first, as it sharpened he realized that it was the sounds of a whispered conversation. Someone was down here.</p><p>There was a quiet flick, and then a surge of bright, fluorescent light. Beomgyu hissed, immediately covering his eyes with his hands. Rubbing his sore eyes, he heard one of the voices perk up.</p><p>“They’re back!”</p><p>“Oh snap, who is that?”</p><p>“...Is he dead?”</p><p>“Obviously not! Yoongi wouldn’t be carrying them if they were.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s eyes fluttered open to a vast room, which was even emptier than upstairs, except for a couple of dark mats piled up in one corner, and a few menacing weapons hung neatly on the wall. Yoongi dumped the blonde man by the wall, where a pair of cuffs chained to the wall were located. He chained his wrists and legs, and yanked on it for good measure before backing up and joining the rest of the small crowd that gathered in the middle of the room. </p><p>“Now that everyone’s here,” Taehyung announced, projecting his voice that it boomed against the empty walls, instantly gathering everyone’s attention, “We should start.” He looked directly at Beomgyu, and the dark-haired boy stiffened as he felt everyone’s gaze slowly turned to him.</p><p>“Start what?” Beomgyu asked weakly. noticing how everyone around him seemed to subtly circle around Taehyung. Did he have some type of authority over them? They all seem to do whatever he says.</p><p>“The explanation for everything; how and why you became a demon,” The older replied, “But in order to fully understand this situation, you need to know how everything came to be. Our origin story- how the demons were created.” Beomgyu swallowed nervously but nodded. </p><p>Taehyung opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could utter a word a loud groan suddenly broke through the vast room, causing everyone’s gaze to swing to the source of the groan, which was the blonde man chained to the wall.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p><p>The first feeling Yeonjun felt upon waking up was the sharp, ache in the back of his head. It pulsed with a fierce, arduous throb and made him grumble curses to himself. Waking up with a raging headache was <em> not </em>fun at all. His neck was hurting too, probably because his head was bent at a weird angle, and he tried to straighten up, reaching over to soothe his neck when he realized that his arms were restrained. He tried it again, only to be met with solid force.</p><p>“What the hell?” The blonde opened his eyes, only to find himself a place he’s never been before. With <em> people </em>he’s never seen before</p><p>“Hmm, I’d thought you’d be out a little longer than that.” A familiar voice said, and Yeonjun’s gaze snapped to the mint-colored hair man standing next to him with an amused smirk.</p><p>The blonde was so distracted by his pain he didn’t even realize the overwhelming smell of sulfur. <em> Demons! </em> His body immediately stiffened, fighting against his chains as the memories came pouring into his mind. He was chasing them, he had found the rogue, he was going to take him but he was overpowered before he could get the chance. They kidnapped him, and now he was here. Surrounded by a whole <em> coven </em>of them.</p><p>Just great.</p><p>Yeonjun tugged on his arms again, writhing in his chains and ignoring the slight burn the friction put on his wrists. He glared up at the mint-haired one, “Let me go now!”</p><p>“It’s no use resisting,” He replied, unfazed, “We have all your weapons, plus there’s eight of us. Even if you could get out of those chains, you wouldn’t make it very far.”</p><p>It was then that Yeonjun realized his sword was missing, along with his small set of daggers and extra supplies he carried around in his trenchcoat.. He really <em>was </em>weaponless and outnumbered, and he was wise enough to know that no matter how good he was as a hunter, this was simply a fight he couldn’t win. Realization dawned in on the blonde quietly, and Yeonjun closed his eyes for a short moment, calming himself down from the panic before opening them to glare at the demons around him. </p><p>“I won’t talk, so you might as well kill me.” He said coldly.</p><p>The demon snorted, “If we wanted you dead, we wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble to drag you here.”</p><p>The blonde raised an eyebrow in alarm, “What?”</p><p>“Actually, it’s a good thing you woke up now,” The ravenette that Yeonjun recognized as one of the demon’s before spoke up, “This way we won’t have to repeat this explanation twice. Listen well hunter, we don’t want to hurt you. We want an <em> alliance. </em>”</p><p>An alliance? Yeonjun couldn’t help but snort at the absurdity of his statement. “Yeah, like I’d believe that.”</p><p>“You will, once you hear me out,” The other countered before taking a deep breath, “Now where was I? Oh right, so back to our origin story. So a <em> very very </em>long time ago, in the beginning, there was only Heaven and Earth. Hell wasn’t created until Lucifer was banished to Earth for eternity. There, he spent his time corrupting humans to commit acts of sin until their souls were impure and he turned them into his followers for his dark kingdom, this new hybrid race created under Lucifer were called demons, and the first follower he created was named Salem- this will be important for later in the story. So anyway, the devil granted his followers some of his power and taught them how to use their new abilities. With his followers and their supernatural abilities, Lucifer built up his kingdom, enslaving humans and creating a lot of chaos on Earth. After seeing how his punishment was spectacularly backfiring on them, Heaven finally decided to intervene. They created Hell and cast Lucifer along with his demon race into it, restoring ‘balance and peace’ to Earth. But their plan was rushed and they hadn’t completely thought it through, because Hell was created from a part of Earth. And because of that, portals could be opened between the two if a demon was strong enough to do it. </p><p>Now, remember that Salem guy I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well because he was Lucifer’s first follower and the first demon to be created, he is the strongest of all of us. He is known as the ‘Demon King,’ and presides over demons as Lucifer’s right-hand man-”</p><p>Yeonjun scoffed loudly, interrupting the demon, “A <em> Demon King, </em>seriously?”</p><p>All the demons tensed and glared at him, but he wasn’t bothered by it. His gaze was leveled on the one telling the story, he seemed to be their leader by the way that the other demons looked up to him.</p><p>The ravenette frowned at him, “I can assure you, I’m perfectly serious.”</p><p>“How come I’ve never heard of him, then?” Yeonjun challenged. He was vaguely familiar with the tale this demon was telling about the Devil and the creation of the demonic race, but his organization had never told him anything about this Salem figure.  </p><p>The ravenette crossed his arms, matching the blonde’s defying stare with a smirk of his own, “Your human government can only gather so much information on us. I know that’s what you’re really after, isn’t it Hunter? Well, if you play nice and hear us out, we might be able to give it to you.”</p><p>Yeonjun grit his teeth and glared, but he couldn’t argue against that. He hated the fact that this demon seemed to know exactly what he’s been searching for, and despite every bone in his body telling him not to comply, to <em> get the hell out of here, </em>he managed to stay still. </p><p>“Now, as I was saying. Believe it or not, Hell is a pretty big place and it takes a lot to manage. Plus, there’s that millennia-old conflict  between Heaven and Hell so Lucifer is a pretty busy man. He assigned Salem as ruler of the demons, and but ruling over demons in Hell isn’t good enough for that greedy bastard. He’s been trying for centuries to take back Earth, and unfortunately for you,” He says, eyeing Yeonjun specifically, “He’s closer than ever.”</p><p>“You don’t sound like you’re very fond of your king,” Yeonjun drawled, cocking his head even though it hurt to do so, “Isn’t that treasonous?”</p><p>“Oh, trust me, Salem is very aware of my dislike for him. And besides, not <em> all </em> demons are evil, mindless pawns of the Devil’s will. Some of us do not agree with Salem’s principles, and some of us actually <em> like </em> living on Earth <em> without </em> causing death, chaos, and destruction. This is why we have formed our own coven; we are an insurgent group of demons who are actively working against Salem and his impending destruction of this world. We've been doing our best to keep him and his followers at bay, but we're painfully outnumbered and there’s only so much we can do. We even gave you humans the secret on how to make demonic swords,” He brandished Yeonjun’s blade, and the blonde jerked in his chains again. He stiffened as the demon raised the blade to his hand, before making a quick, shallow cut on his palm. As usual, the blade glowed a brilliant white at contact with demonic blood. The demon looked rather unimpressed with the blade though, as he casually tossed it to the side. “We had hoped that by giving you some weapons to fight back against our kind, the scale would tip in our favor. It was working out for a while, but of course...all of that was changed due to some recent, irresponsible actions.” He said, pointedly looking at the younger demon Yeonjun also saw before.</p><p>He turned towards the one who had pleaded in Yeonjun’s grip, “What Kai did to you is not only illegal, but it should’ve been <em> impossible. </em>It takes years to fill a human soul with enough corruption that their soul perishes and they can begin the process of becoming a demon. Demon blood has amazing healing properties, but it is toxic to humans. A human body with a soul was never meant to hold it, therefore in theory it should have torn Beomgyu’s body apart from the inside out.”</p><p>The one named Beomgyu seemed to gasp in terror at this news, but Yeonjun grimaced to himself, mulling it over in his mind.</p><p>“Beomgyu is an anomaly; a person with a human soul, but also has demonic blood and power coursing through his veins. Somehow, instead of rejecting the blood, his DNA has mutated to accommodate it, which is something we’ve never seen before. He’s a <em> crossbreed. </em>” Whispers rose across the rooms as the demons gasped and stared. </p><p>Yeonjun found himself turning his critical gaze towards the timid dark-haired boy. He looked very uneasy with the conversation turning towards him, but also couldn’t help but gape at the taller. He was a crossbred? That would probably explain why he smelled so different from the other demons. </p><p>“Crossbreeds are very rare,” The other demon continued, “So much so that I’ve never seen one in my long lifetime. Crossbreeds are rumored to have incredible magical properties in their blood, it could potentially enhance a demon’s own power if used correctly. This, unfortunately, puts our Beomgyu in a lot of danger. Because an incredible surge of power is <em> exactly </em>what Salem needs to carry out his plans.” His voice was grave, and there was a grim silence that fell over the room.</p><p>“W-Wait,” Beomgyu stuttered, his eyes widened in fear and alarmed, “W-What happens if Salem finds me?”</p><p>“ Essentially the end of the world for humans,” The demon responded gravely, before turning to face Yeonjun again, “Which is exactly why we need all the help we can get.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>things are starting to fall into place. lmao i hope this wasn't too confusing (i rewrote this like twice), u can comment if u have questions I don't mind answering them 😁 thank you for reading, until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. step 5: form an alliance with the psycho</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hellooo! It's offically spooky season, so I decided why not update a chapter for my demon au fic ;). Thank for the comments &amp; kudos as always! Enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>step 5: form an alliance with the pyscho</strong>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, wait,” Beomgyu found himself sputtering out loud, his legs subconsciously backing away from the crowd of demons around him. His mind was racing a million miles a minute. All of this was still so new to him, he could only <em> barely </em> grasp the concept that he was now supernatural. “S-So you mean to tell me... <em> I </em>could cause the end of the world?!”</p><p>Taehyung nodded at him, “Yes, that is very possible.”</p><p>Beomgyu felt his stomach churn with a queasy, nervous feeling. His legs suddenly felt like jello, and he probably would’ve collapsed on himself if it wasn’t for Kai suddenly appearing beside him. He held his shoulders in a comforting, but secure manner. Beomgyu snapped his frantic gaze up to look at the taller, who had that same calm, but concerned look in his eyes. </p><p>“You’re okay,” He said gently, it was probably the softest the brunette has ever heard him speak, “I got you, you’re gonna be okay.”</p><p>Oddly enough, some of the nervous energy buzzing around inside him subsided at the demon’s calm gaze. Before Beomgyu could say anything, there was a loud scoff that echoed from across the room. Everyone’s gazes moved from Beomgyu and Kai to the hunter still chained up to the wall. His hair was disheveled, golden strands fell messily into his eyes as he moved his head from side to side, rolling his neck. </p><p>After he was done stretching, the hunter turned his feline stare on Beomgyu for a moment. The brunette felt his heart jump in his chest at the intensity of his dark eyes, he felt like he’d be swallowed whole under his gaze. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought, but the shiver wasn’t <em> entirely </em>out of fear. Was it insane to be slightly attracted to a guy who looked like he’d kill him without a second thought? Maybe Beomgyu would check himself into a psych ward after all of this was over. </p><p>But he didn’t hold his gaze for long, because the blonde quickly switched his incredulous stare to Taehyung,“The end of the world? Dramatic much?”</p><p>The older demon sighed, “I wish I was being dramatic. But no, I’m not. I know it’s hard for you to picture this because your human life is very short in comparison to ours, but Salem has been waiting <em> centuries </em> to enact this plan. All he’s wanted to do since he became the Demon King is take back this world and literally cause <em> hell </em>on Earth.”</p><p>“And you’re telling me <em> he’s </em>the deciding factor on whether we live peacefully or become enslaved?” The hunter gestured vaguely in Beomgyu’s direction. </p><p>“Didn’t you hear what he said?” Yoongi retorted, crossing his arms as he frowned down at the blonde man.</p><p>“Yoongi, play nice.” Taehyung replied in a calm manner, but the underlying warning was clear in his tone. The mint-haired man rolled his eyes with a small pout. Taehyung began making his way towards the hunter, and the demons parted for him like the Red Sea. Once the blonde man realized the older demon was making his way towards him, he tensed up in his chains again. Taehyung bent down to be at eye-level with him, leaning forward with gleaming red eyes. The hunter’s hands were balled into tight fists, but other than the scowl on his face, he did not show any sign of intimidation. Taehyung cocked his head to the side, a curious expression on his face as he scrutinized the chained blonde for a moment.</p><p>“I like you,” The demon admitted, “You’re strong, righteous, confident, and smart. Our HueningKai says that you are a good candidate. One of the best hunters your organization has, you have the highest number of kills.”</p><p>The blonde lazily arched an eyebrow, “What about it?”</p><p>“In exchange for your cooperation, we’ll give you all of our info about Salem’s minions whereabouts and stronger weapons to fight them.” </p><p>Something flashed in his eyes, but he quickly returned to his neutral scowl. There was a beat of silence as they stared at each other, before he said, “My cooperation?”</p><p>Knowing that he had him interested, Taehyung grinned as he nodded, “Yes, in exchange for our willingness to help out your and your colleagues, you’ll do a secret job for us. Don’t worry, you won’t have to double-cross your precious organization. The job is quite simple actually, you will protect Beomgyu.”</p><p>This time, the blonde didn’t filter the surprise in his expression. Both him and Beomgyu blurted <em> “What?” </em>at the same time, but when the blonde glared at him, Beomgyu sheepishly looked down at his dirty shoes.</p><p><em> “Me?” </em> He scoffed in disbelief, “That doesn’t even make any sense! Why would you want a <em> hunter </em>of all people to protect a demon?”</p><p>“Well, only half-demon if you want to get technical,” The ravenette answered with a small quirk to his lips, “But yes, Kai will be with him most of the time because he’s his guardian, but there will be times when Kai won’t be able to be with Beomgyu. That’s when I will need you to be with him. It won’t be long until Salem finds out about Beomgyu’s existence. Our priority is to keep him hidden for as long as we can, preferably until we can find a way to stop that bastard.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s eyes widened at this new revelation. <em> That guy protecting me? </em>He hasn’t known the blonde for long, but he could say with full confidence that hell would freeze over before he could see this hunter agreeing to protect him. He literally tried to kill him for no reason! Beomgyu shot a worried gaze at Kai.</p><p>“What is he thinking?” He whispered-hissed to the younger, “He would <em> never </em>agree to do that!”</p><p>“Taehyung thought this through. Trust me, he knows what he’s doing.” Kai whispered back.</p><p>Beomgyu was still doubtful, but all he could do was bite his lip in apprehensiveness as he turned his attention back to the two. Taehyung stood back up to his full height as he crossed his arms, “That is the terms of our agreement. You’re free to accept or decline this.”</p><p>“And what if I decline?” The blonde challenged.</p><p>The ravenette shrugged nonchalantly, “Then we’ll get Jungkook to erase your memory of this day, and find someone else to do it.”</p><p>The hunter’s scowl seemed to deepen at that.</p><p>There was a long moment of silence, to the point that Beomgyu took the blonde’s silence as rejection. He was glaring up at the older demon, never breaking eye-contact even if that meant he had to crane his neck up to face him, but the look in his dark eyes were one of calculation. The tense silence continued for what felt like hours before the blonde finally let out an indignant sigh.</p><p>“Fine. I’ll do it.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s widen to the size of saucers and startled murmurs broke out from the coven of demons. The only people who didn’t have a shocked reaction were Taehyung, who was smirking triumphantly, the hunter who was still glaring daggers at him, and Yoongi who looked indifferent about the whole thing. </p><p>“I’m glad we could come to an agreement, Choi Yeonjun.” The ravenette said. The blonde inhaled sharply at the sound of his name, before he was suddenly yanked up by Yoongi to stand on his feet. Sometime during their conversation, the mint-haired man had taken off his chains. “We’ll come to you when we need to meet again.” And with a nod to Yoongi, they both disappeared. </p><p>“Now that that’s dealt with,” Taehyung turned back towards Beomgyu, “We can talk about your new accommodations. As I said before, Kai will be your guardian. He will enroll in university and move on campus so that he can be with you for security purposes, and also to help you practice and hone your powers.”</p><p>“My...powers?” Beomgyu repeated.</p><p>The older demon nodded, “Yes, depending on how strong that demon is, they can have many abilities. Like Yoongi can teleport himself and people he is touching, Jungkook has the power to erase minds, and I have the power to read minds. On a basic level, all demons can summon and manipulate hellfire.” </p><p>Beomgyu was suddenly reminded of that night in that alleyway. When he was faced with the blonde hunter- or <em> Yeonjun </em> according to Taehyung- with that large, scary blade. He had been so scared that day, he really thought he was going to die there. It was a bit of a blur, but he remembers the sudden surge of heat he felt and as soon as he opened his eyes it was there. He was too busy running for his life at the time to think about how that happened, but now that he was here, he couldn’t help the tentative curiosity. The brunette stared down at his hands, half in fear and half in astonishment. A small part of him wondered exactly what he was capable of.</p><p>“You know what this means?” Kai asked in a sing-songy tone, wrapping an arm around Beomgyu’s neck in a friendly manner, startling the shorter out of his thoughts, “We’re gonna be classmates! Ooh, I’ve never been to college before, I’m excited!” </p><p>Beomgyu stared up at the excited boy, furrowing his eyebrows for a moment, before finally deciding to ask the question that’s been wandering in the back of his mind for a while now. “Um...how old are you, Kai?”</p><p>The taller brunette’s grin was mischievous, “Well, my actual age or the equivalent for humans?”</p><p>“Your actual age.”</p><p>“A hundred nineteen.”</p><p>Beomgyu’s mouth dropped, <em> “What?” </em></p><p>Kai chuckled, scratching the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’m actually pretty young compared to everyone else though.”</p><p>“He’s practically a baby.” Another demon, Jungkook, added. </p><p>Kai glared at him in protest, “I am <em> not </em>a baby! I’m only just two-hundred years younger than you!”</p><p>“You’re...but, how are you still so young? H-How are all of you so..?” Beomgyu stammered out, looking between Kai and Jungkook. </p><p>“Oh, that? Demons don’t age actually.” Kai answered simply, “A plus to turning, if you think of it that way. Whatever age we were when we were still human, we stay that way forever.”</p><p>The shorter brunette's eyes widened again. That is <em> insane! </em></p><p>Taehyung cleared his throat loudly, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.“I know this is a lot to ask of you Beomgyu, and I know all the pressure has been unfairly put upon you, but you need to learn how to control your powers not only to be a demon, but to defend yourself against other demons. It won’t be long until Salem finds out about you, he has spies everywhere. We just want to make sure you are prepared to face all of this, that is why we’re taking all of these precautions.” Taehyung explained, with a tiny smile, “Are you ready to save humankind from certain evil?”</p><p>Beomgyu swallowed nervously. He was still taking in and processing everything, but something inside of him knew this wasn’t a fate he would be able to escape. It felt like his destiny was no longer in his hands since the night of the car accident. All Beomgyu could do was nod to them, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.</p><hr/><p>After finalizing his new arrangements with the coven, Beomgyu was sent back home with Kai (via Yoongi’s teleportation). They arrived on campus, right outside his dormitory. The inky darkness had swallowed the sky whole, scattering it with a few blinking stars that could be seen in Seoul. Beomgyu pulled his phone out of his pocket, half-surprised that it managed to survive all the rough-housing he went through today. It was 11:23 PM. The brunette scanned all of the text messages and a couple of missed calls from Taehyun, internally sighing when he realized he’d have to make up an excuse for his absence. Again.</p><p>He quickly texted back his best friend, letting him know he was here and on his way up, before slipping the phone back into his pocket and turned to the two demons still standing next to him. Kai was gazing around the campus with a hyper eagerness, an excited grin stretched across his lips as he watched a group of obviously tipsy frat guys laugh and holler loudly as they passed by. Yoongi’s expression was more schooled, but even his facade of indifference couldn’t hide the curiosity in his dark eyes as he studied an ad for a zumba club posted on an announcement board. Beomgyu couldn’t help but chuckle a little at how out-of-place they both looked. It made him wonder how different a demon’s life was from a regular human’s life. <em> Wow, demon. I still can’t believe I’m using this word. I still can’t believe this is all real. </em></p><p>The brunette cleared his throat, getting the other two’s attention. “Um. I’m going to go up now.” He announced awkwardly.</p><p>Kai nodded, “That’s fine. We’re going to do some reconnaissance here first to make sure there’s no demon activity going on. Rest well, Beomgyu! I’ll contact you in the morning.”</p><p>Beomgyu just nodded back, bringing his hand up hesitantly in a tiny wave before turning and heading inside his building.It eased him a little bit to be back in a familiar place again, taking his mind off of all the worrying about the demonic race and all the threats that come with it, as well as the attractive but crazy hunter guy. He hadn’t even put his key into the lock of their door when it suddenly swung open, Taehyun standing behind it with wide, panicked eyes.</p><p>“I was ten seconds from calling campus security,” The shorter stated, his eyes narrowing, “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to text you for hours but you didn’t pick up.”</p><p>“I was...um, working on a project in the library,” Beomgyu started, “I kept my phone on mute since I was there and I didn’t look at anything until now. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”</p><p>Taehyun stared at the brunette for a moment, scrutinizing him in a way that reminded him of how the hunter looked at him- just with less animosity. He seemed to be debating on whether to accept his excuse or not, and just when Beomgyu was sure he’d call him on his bullshit, Taehyun just let out a resigned sigh. </p><p>“It’s okay. I was just nervous, you know? Since the last time you disappeared for hours without telling me, you ended up in the hospital.” Beomgyu dropped his gaze, feeling the guilt rise a little. Taehyun widened the pathway, stepping aside to let him in, “Just don’t forget to let me know, okay? I already have enough stress as it is being a double biology and chemistry major.”</p><p>A small smile tugged on Beomgyu’s lips at that, and he nodded as he walked in.</p><p>He noticed the desk area of his best friend’s had papers, textbooks, pens and highlighters strewn everywhere. Beomgyu was suddenly very glad he wasn’t a STEM major. There were two cups of steaming ramen sitting on the edge of his desk, one already half-eaten if the stained chopsticks were anything to go by. </p><p>“I was getting hungry, and since you missed dinner I decided to make another one for you. You know, in case you were hungry or anything.” Taehyun explained as he sat back down at his desk, opening up a textbook that looked thicker than a block of cement.</p><p>As if on cue, Beomgyu felt his stomach growling in protest, and he quickly nodded as he picked up the other cup of noodles and sat down on his best. “Thank you Hyunnie, you’re the best.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don’t know.” The shorter mumbled, before diving back into his work.</p><p>They fell into a comfortable silence, nothing but the soft, squeaky sounds of Taehyun’s highlighters and Beomgyu slurping to fill the peaceful stillness. Idly, Beomgyu thought about the day’s events, and how his life was miraculously changing before his eyes. So much happened in such a short time, and while he was grateful for Kai and the coven’s help, he still felt overwhelmed. He still felt like he was by himself, stranded alone on a sinking ship. Could he rely on his best friend? Beomgyu trusted him with his life. He snuck a glance at Taehyun, whose face was contorted into a look of serious concentration while he worked. He wondered if the coven would allow him to share this secret with his best friend, or if it would have to be a burden he’d bear alone.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p><p>When the world re-appeared after suddenly disappearing from around him, Yeonjun found himself in a somewhat familiar location; the dumpster behind the convenience store in the middle of the busy city. He only got a half of a second to be relieved, before the feeling of nausea suddenly overwhelmed him, and he lost his sense of balance. Falling on his ass, the blonde grunted at the pain but didn’t dare move. It took a few minutes for the queasiness to go away, before he could get back on his feet again.</p><p>“Demons and their stupid annoying powers.” He grumbled to himself, rubbing his wrists, which were chafed from how tight the chains were. He noticed he was the only one here, but his weapons were dumped a few feet away from him. <em> How nice of them, </em>the blonde thought sardonically.</p><p>He picked up his blade first, a small sense of relief filling him at having the familiar weapon in his hands again. He felt like he had a semblance of control again. He sheathed it and picked up his daggers when he felt his phone buzz noisily in his pocket. Taking it out, he quickly unlocked the screen and held it up to his ear, </p><p>“Yeah, what’s up?”</p><p>“Don’t <em> yeah what’s up </em>me, where the hell have you been?” Soobin’s voice rang out, tinged with annoyance, “You never followed up on your scheduled check-in call. I was just about to send a team out to collect you.”</p><p>“Flattered, but that won’t be necessary.” Yeonjun replied, making his way out the alleyway, “It just...took me a little longer to exterminate a demon than I originally thought it would be.”</p><p>“How many times do I have to tell you to be careful? You’re strong but you’re not Superman! I’m here for a reason, you need to tell me if you need reinforcements.” Soobin began to lecture him. </p><p>“I know.” Yeonjun said absentmindedly. </p><p>His mind was still processing all of this new information he had to take in. He didn’t trust these stange rogue demons as far as he could throw them, but his team was desperate for any kind of lead. And if that demon leader had any advantages then he needed to at least <em> pretend </em> he trusted them and go along with what they wanted him to do. At least, until that leader told him everything he needed to know. <em> Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.  </em></p><p>When Yeonjun arrived back at headquarters, he went straight to the debriefing room and filled out his report for today. Soobin grilled him the whole time about him being late, and Yeonjun was tempted to tell him the real reason why. Something made him hesitate though, and he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like the demons swore him to secrecy. Maybe it was on the principle that he was known in their organization as the most ruthless, cut-throat, demon-hating hunter they have. He was supposed to be <em> killing </em>these evil ghouls, not conspiring with them. Did this count as a betrayal? He didn’t know what his organization would do to him if they found out- would they throw him in jail? Kill him? Most importantly, what would Soobin think? He was his best friend, and the closest thing to family Yeonjun’s had since he lost his mother all those years ago.</p><p>So many annoying questions.</p><p>Yeonjun was exhausted, he hasn’t been this tired in a while, but getting kidnapped could take a lot out of you. He declined to go get noodles with Soobin for dinner, to which the taller man pouted. The blonde promised he’d pay next time they go out to eat, and Soobin grinned at that. After he was done with work, he somehow managed to find the energy to drive back to his small little apartment in the center of the city.</p><p>The blonde tiredly typed in his passcode, door unlocking to the dark space. His apartment wasn’t much; just a combined living room and kitchen space as the main room, and a bedroom with a bathroom and laundry room to the left. Although he made a pretty good amount of money from his job, Yeonjun didn’t see a point in getting a better place. No matter how much Soobin suggested he should. Living in a big house reminded him of his childhood, and subsequently, his mother’s death.</p><p>The blonde stripped out of his clothes, rolling his neck and shoulders to stretch out the kinks. He jumped into the shower, which helped him wake up a little. He applied the ointment Haseul gave (or more accurately <em> threatened </em>) him to apply to his wounds from last week, changed into a simple black tee and matching sweatpants, before crashing onto his bed. Despite him being really tired earlier, he couldn’t quite fall asleep. Too many things were on his mind, and he usually couldn’t sleep until his mind was at some sort of ease.</p><p>Yeonjun huffed out a breath, his blonde strands that fell over his forehead flapping with the movement. It was going to be one of those nights, he supposed. He turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling through the fuzzy darkness. Out of all the things plaguing his mind, he found himself thinking about that crossbreed. That boy with the big, round eyes, dark hair that fell like a curtain around his forehead and a shaky, low voice. Yeonjun still had a hard time believing the fate of humanity lies with someone like <em> him. </em>Was this some sort of cosmic joke?</p><p>That boy was timid, easily-intimidated, and weak, he could barely defend himself against Yeonjun. The blonde didn’t see how he would be able to fight against his own kind, who were even stronger and ruthless. He supposed it made sense the demons wanted him for added protection. But still...it was all really <em> weird </em>. He had to keep reminding himself that they were still his enemies, this was a temporary alliance out of necessity, and once they’ve defeated this outside threat things would resume. </p><p>Yeonjun sighed again, turning onto his side to move his gaze to the window facing the lit-up skyscrapers. It took him a while before he could fall asleep, the last thought in his mind was the memory of his mother’s face.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you for reading as always! sorry this one's a little shorter than my usual chapters, the next one will definitely be longer. Leave a comment if you want, they are always appreciated. Until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. step 6: burn your roommate's food</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello, oops this was supposed to be posted in Nov but welcome back to another chapter!! Thanks as always for the comments, kudos, &amp; bookmarks! They really mean a lot to me and I appreciate every single one of them. Enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong> <em>step six: burn your roommate's food</em> </strong>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p>
<p>“You are literally the worst patient ever,” Haseul announced, as she brought her stern glare to the blonde sitting on the stool in her medical ward, “Didn’t I say be careful, you idiot? It hasn’t even been two weeks since your last incident! You know what? I’m gonna start personally charging you for every time you show up in my med bay.”</p>
<p>Yeonjun sighed in protest, “It’s just some bruising. It’s not like I came in with a gaping wound in my chest!”</p>
<p>“Don’t talk back to me,” The doctor retorted, reaching for the blonde’s wrist and pulling it closer to her so she could inspect it, “It looks like you were handcuffed or something. What were you even doing this time?”</p>
<p>“Well…” Yeonjun started, but trailed off. How could he even explain the deep, bruising indentations the chains left on his wrists without saying he was kidnapped by a bunch of rogues and was essentially coerced into making a deal with them? </p>
<p>“Maybe he has a new girlfriend he didn’t tell us about.” Soobin teased from the stool across from the blonde. </p>
<p>Haseul scoffed, but Yeonjun was secretly glad that distracted her. She didn’t ask any more questions as she inspected him, just grumbled to herself as she applied some ointment. “There,” She said once she was done, “Now get out of my med bay.”</p>
<p>“Always so kind and sweet, what would I do without you?” The blonde teased.</p>
<p>“Probably die.” Haseul answered shortly, “I swear to god Yeonjun, if you come in here on the brink of death again because you run head-first into those monsters, I’m not saving you.”</p>
<p>“Love you too!” Yeonjun cooed, to which the older woman rolled her eyes at.</p>
<p>“I honestly don’t know how you can deal with him.” Haseul muttered, looking at Soobin.</p>
<p>“Me neither. Maybe I’m paying for a sin in my past life.”</p>
<p>“Hey!” The blonde protested, to which Soobin and Haseul shared a round of laughter. Yeonjun scoffed at them, but couldn’t hide his own smile creeping up the corners of his lips. He just rolled his eyes and walked out of the med bay, standing outside while waiting for Soobin and Haseul to finish chatting. </p>
<p>Once Soobin <em> finally </em>came out of the med bay, the blonde glared at him playfully, “Took you long enough, I was just about to go get lunch without you.”</p>
<p>“Not when you owe me~” The taller brunette said in a sing-songy tone, wrapping an arm around Yeonjun, “But seriously, what happened that day? You went MIA for like three whole hours.”</p>
<p>“I told you, I was chasing a target.” Yeonjun replied, he tried to go for slightly annoyed as he looked at the taller, but on the inside he was tense. Soobin had this uncanny (and sometimes annoying) ability to be able to detect when Yeonjun wasn’t being truthful. </p>
<p>Soobin scrunched his eyebrows together at that, “Yeah but why do I feel like that’s not the whole story though?”</p>
<p>There he goes again, using his weird ability.</p>
<p>“Well, you can read all about the whole story in my mission report.” The blonde answered smoothly, quickly changing the topic, “So which restaurant will you be draining my pockets from today?”</p>
<p>“Hmm, I’m feeling like bulgogi with that nice quality beef today.”</p>
<p>Yeonjun paused in the middle of the hallway to shoot a look at the taller. “Are you serious? At this rate, I won’t be able to pay rent next month.” He complained.</p>
<p>Soobin nodded with a wicked grin on his face, his dimples on full display. “A promise is a promise, Choi Yeonjun.”</p>
<p>Well, he couldn’t argue with that one. All he could do was sigh as he let the taller steer them through the hallway, dodging through the busy agents. It seems today was an especially busy day, there were a lot more people moving around headquarters, rushing back and forth in-between rooms. Yeonjun wondered if they finally found some sort of lead, he was suddenly reminded of the deal he made. He didn’t have long to feel guilty over the thought though, because Soobin tugged on him again to get his attention. </p>
<p>“Can we go get bingsoo afterwards?”</p>
<p>“Don’t push your luck.”</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em> ~ beomgyu ~ </em>
</p>
<p>Beomgyu cracked open the door halfway, checking the cramped room of their dorm to make sure it was empty, before turning back to nod at Kai to come in. The taller eagerly stepped through the threshold, gazing around the room with an enthusiasm of a child in a candy shop. </p>
<p>“So this is what human dorm rooms look like!” Kai said, inspecting their beds before moving onto Beomgyu’s dresser, “Wow, how can you fit two people’s stuff into one small place like this?”</p>
<p>Beomgyu wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, but before he could answer, the demon had lost interest in his dresser and moved on to Taehyun’s crowded desk.</p>
<p>“Don’t touch anything there, my roommate would kill me.” Beomgyu warned, only half-joking as the taller bent down to peer closely at all of the things laid out on Taehyun’s desk. Kai quickly backed up, shooting the dark-haired boy a puzzled look before finally deciding to sit down at the chair pulled up to Beomgyu’s desk. </p>
<p>“So,” Beomgyu began awkwardly, “Um...how do I get my powers?”</p>
<p>“Your powers aren’t really something you ‘<em> get, </em>’ they’re inherent, like a talent or skill. You just have to keep practicing them to get better at controlling them. But since you’ve never actually had any experience with magic, it’s best to start you off on a basic level,” Kai began, holding up one finger, “Level one: manifesting hellfire.”</p>
<p>Beomgyu’s eyes widened at that, <em> “Hellfire?” </em></p>
<p>“Yeah, as you know, it is an innate ability all demons of any level have. This is a good way to start getting used to magic.”</p>
<p>The shorter ravenette bit his lip in nervous anticipation. After a moment of thinking, he asked quietly, “What does it feel like?”</p>
<p>“Doing magic?” Kai asked, to which Beomgyu nodded. A wistful smile spread across his lips as he tapped his fingers against Beomgyu’s desk in thought, “The feeling is kinda indescribable; it’s like a rush of excitement and warmth in your veins. You can feel the power manifesting inside you, and when you can control it, it makes you feel like you have all the power in the world. It’s a very exhilarating feeling, probably one of my favorite things about being a demon.”</p>
<p>Engrossed in his explanation, Beomgyu nodded with wide eyes. From the way that Kai described it, it sounded...well, <em> magical. </em> Beomgyu was never really a believer in magic or supernatural abilities, but now that the prospect has been opened to him, his mind once again raced at the possibilities. Something inside of him wanted, even <em> yearned </em>for him to do magic. To reach his true potential. Beomgyu wasn’t sure if the desire came from his real self, or the demonic side of him.</p>
<p>“Now,” Kai began, the wistful smile was gone as a more focused expression took over his features, “I want you to think about fire; the look of it, the feel of it, the smell of it. It’s best to have a very specific picture of something in your mind when you want to manifest it.”</p>
<p>“Okay.” Beomgyu said, closing his eyes. He imagined the fire, thinking back to that first night. He could feel a semblance of warmth stir in his veins, but the feeling was faint. Like the thing that he wanted was miles away. </p>
<p>“Can you feel anything?” Kai’s voice floated from somewhere on his left.</p>
<p>“Kind of,” The shorter boy answered, “But...it’s not strong enough. It feels really far away, I can’t reach it.” He squeezed his eyes shut harder, trying to bring the feeling closer. It was still faint, but it was growing a little stronger. <em>Fire, fire fire. </em>Beomgyu chanted in his mind, imagining the element. </p>
<p>It was getting closer, more stronger. He could feel the familiar warmth again, like a light bulb that was heating up. Is this what magic felt like? If it was, it was a feeling Beomgyu could definitely get used to. It was getting even stronger and heavier; pouring into his veins until it overflowed. It was<em> too </em> much, he needed a way to let this buzzing energy out. And he did. So like a firework, he let this energy combust. Beomgyu’s eyes suddenly snapped open, his chest was moving up and down slowly with effort. He didn’t realize how much energy magic required, he felt like he’d just run a marathon.</p>
<p>The dark-haired boy turned to the taller, “Did I do it?”</p>
<p>Kai looked hesitant, “I have good news and bad news.”</p>
<p>“What’s the good news?”</p>
<p>“You were able to summon fire.”</p>
<p>Beomgyu felt a surge of pride at that, “Wow, really?” He let out a breathless chuckle.</p>
<p>Kai smiled and nodded, “Yeah, but I guess I should’ve been more specific on <em> where </em>you should summon the fire. Cuz-”</p>
<p>“Wait,” The dark-haired boy interrupted, his senses suddenly coming back to him as he took a sniff of the air, “Do you smell that? It smells like something is burning.”</p>
<p>Kai scratched the back of his head, before looking off in another direction. Beomgyu followed his gaze, and his excitement quickly turned into horror as his eyes widened at the sight before him. The brand new box of ramen Taehyun and him had bought the other day but left out on Taehyun’s desk was on <em> fire.  </em></p>
<p>“Oh my god!” Beomgyu shouted, springing up from his bed, “We need to hurry up and put it out! Oh my god, where’s the water?!”</p>
<p>Kai stood up too, “Water won’t work, hellfire is stronger than regular fire.”</p>
<p>The fire was gradually growing bigger and bigger, almost engulfing the whole box. Black smoke billowed from the box, wafting dangerously close to the smoke detector on their ceiling.</p>
<p>Beomgyu panicked, <em> “What?! </em>W-What are we gonna do then?! We have to put it out before it sets off an alarm!”</p>
<p>The dark-haired boy was three seconds away from running out the dorm to call for help, when the fire evaporated at the snap of Kai’s fingers. Beomgyu just blinked, staring dumbfoundedly at the ashen remains of what used to be their spicy ramen for a long moment.</p>
<p>“Just like you can summon the fire here, you can summon it away.” Kai explained, “Or put it out with a spell, if you know the right ones.”</p>
<p>All Beomgyu could do was just stare, he was shocked speechless. He didn’t even have much time to process what happened, because all of a sudden there was a knock at their door. Both boys turned to glance at the door, and Beomgyu’s heart dropped when he heard the familiar voice on the other side.</p>
<p>“Gyu, you in there? It’s Taehyun, I’m coming in.”</p>
<p>In a flash of inhuman speed, Beomgyu raced over towards the door, grabbing the handle just before Taehyun could turn it. </p>
<p>“What the heck, I could’ve sworn I heard his voice.” His roommate muttered on the other side.</p>
<p>“Give me a sec, Hyunnie! I’m not dressed yet!” Beomgyu quickly shouted, before turning to Kai and saying in a panicked-whisper, “Get rid of the ashes please!”</p>
<p>The taller boy nodded, immediately going over to that side of the room while Taehyun let out a sigh, “Hurry up then. I’m carrying my textbooks and they’re really heavy.”</p>
<p>“Just a moment!” Beomgyu called back towards the door, his heart beating wildly in his chest.</p>
<p>He glanced back at Kai, seeing the taller sweep the ashes into his hands before going over to the window to open it. He put his hands out the window, and the dark-haired boy watched as the obsidian powder fell from the demon’s hands. Belatedly, he hoped that no one was walking by on the sidewalk below. Once Kai was finished, he rubbed the excess dust off his hands with his pants before shutting the window and sitting down in the chair at Beomgyu’s desk. </p>
<p>Beomgyu raised an eyebrow at him, “Aren’t you gonna...you know?” He made a vague gesture towards the window.</p>
<p>Kai raised his eyebrows too, “You want me to jump out the window or something?”</p>
<p>“No, I meant- well...I wasn’t sure if it was okay for Taehyun to see you since...you know.”</p>
<p>“Since I’m supernatural?” The taller boy grinned at that, “It’s fine.”</p>
<p>“Beomgyu are you talking to yourself?” His roommate called from the other side, snapping the dark-haired boy back into attention. He opened the door, revealing the smaller redhead who was carrying three large textbooks. Taehyun’s expression was blank, with a slight hint of annoyance as he walked through the threshold. “Why did it take you so long to change? My arms are about to fall off my- oh.” The redhead stopped himself in the middle of his complaint as his eyes fell onto the newcomer sitting at Beomgyu’s desk. </p>
<p>Kai stood up instantly, a warm and friendly smile on his face, “Hello! I’m HueningKai, but you can call me Kai.”</p>
<p>“He’s my um, <em> partner </em>yeah he’s my partner for my art history class. We’re going to be doing a project together, we were just discussing the details!” Beomgyu quickly added.</p>
<p>Taehyun blinked for a moment. His eyes were already big and doe-like, but Beomgyu doesn’t think he’s ever seen the ginger’s eyes quite that wide before. It was almost comical. </p>
<p>“Oh,” Taehyun mumbled again, in his startled state a textbook slipped out of his grasp, but before he could even gasp, Kai caught the book smoothly.</p>
<p>“Do you need help?” The taller asked, reaching for the rest of the books that were piled on top of  his skinny arms. </p>
<p>“Oh, n-no that’s okay I’m fine. Thanks though.” Taehyun replied with a breathless chuckle, his voice a little wobbly. Beomgyu raised an eyebrow at his roommate while Kai nodded, still holding Taehyun’s other book and followed him to his desk to put it down. Taehyun looked up at him, “Thanks again, i-it’s nice to meet you Kai. I’m Kang Taehyun.” </p>
<p>He hesitantly held out his hand, and Kai shook it firmly with a nod. They looked at each other for another moment, before finally breaking eye-contact as Beomgyu (not so subtly) cleared his throat. </p>
<p>“So I think we’re in a pretty good place for now,” He said, walking over to his desk and closing his Art History book which he conveniently left open, “We can pick up where we left off tomorrow after class? Does that sound good?”</p>
<p>Kai stared at him blankly, “Huh?”</p>
<p>“The <em> project, </em>” Beomgyu said, putting a lot of emphasis on ‘project,’ “We can keep working on it tomorrow after class.”</p>
<p>Realization dawned in on the taller and he quickly nodded, “Oh yeah! Right, tomorrow works for me.”</p>
<p>The dark-haired boy nodded, pointedly avoiding Taehyun’s stare as he shuffled Kai over to their door. Beomgyu whispered the date and time he wanted them to meet up at, and Kai nodded in understanding. He glanced again at the quiet redhead for another moment, before finally waving goodbye and walked out of the door. Once it closed, Beomgyu couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. He turned back to his best friend.</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen him before,” Taehyun muttered offhandedly as he sat down at his desk. “Is he a transfer?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, something like that.” Beomgyu climbed on top of Taehyun’s bed, ignoring the other’s protest, “You were acting really odd earlier while he was here.”</p>
<p>“Odd?” The redhead frowned at that, “No I wasn’t.”</p>
<p>“Yes you were. You kept stuttering and staring at him.” The brunette pointed out.</p>
<p>“I was just...caught off guard.”</p>
<p>A thought suddenly came to his mind, Beomgyu snapped his gaze to his roommate, “Oh my god Hyunnie, do you <em> like </em>him?”</p>
<p>“<em> No. </em>I’ve literally only seen him once. I was just startled, that’s all.”</p>
<p>Beomgyu grinned mischievously, “But you think he’s cute don’t you?” </p>
<p>“I’m ignoring you now,” Taehyun said dryly, putting on his glasses as he opened the first book.</p>
<p>Beomgyu giggled to himself, satisfied as he flopped back on the bed. They spent a couple of minutes in comfortable silence, Beomgyu scrolling through Twitter on his phone while Taehyun wrote down notes with his squeaky pen. It wasn’t until the redhead suddenly looked up that the silence was broken.</p>
<p>“Wait, where did that box of ramen go?”</p><hr/>
<p><em>~ yeonjun ~</em> </p>
<p>The lights of the city were especially bright tonight, almost blinding with the way the fluorescent lights reflected off of his blade. Yeonjun sighed, shifting in his rigid position, stretching stiff joints that got locked into place from squatting on top of a rooftop for almost a half and hour. Why was he waiting on a rooftop for so long, one might ask? Well, it was his latest target he was pursuing, Another demon, this one more stronger than the average, but still nothing he couldn’t handle. The demon has been on quite the move since the blonde started tracking him, moving all around the city once the sun had dropped below the horizon. It made him suspicious- demons tended to move in groups, <em> covens. </em>Could he be another rogue? Normally, Yeonjun would write him off as one, but rogues tended to be wild and violent, only interested in spreading chaos and destruction. The way that this demon moved was different...he didn’t attack or  kill anyone, he wasn’t doing much of anything actually. Just sitting in place for a long moment before moving on to sit at another place. So the hunter decided not to immediately attack him. He followed him instead, hoping maybe a little too optimistically, that it would lead him to the rest of them, and this mysterious Salem figure behind the threat to humanity. </p>
<p>The demon was on the move again, standing up from one of the outside seating tables at a restaurant, and easily slipping back into the busy mill of people on the street. Yeonjun found it odd; the demon has been walking around downtown, but he didn’t seem to have a specific location in mind, seeing as he never actually walked into a building. Something was definitely strange, and the hunter remained on alert as he got up to move again, walking across the building to follow his target. There was that uncanny feeling growing inside him again, the feeling he got right before something bad happened and Yeonjun decided he was no longer interested in following the demon around. He gripped his blade, preparing to vault himself off the roof when he suddenly froze. </p>
<p>Yeonjun only saw him at a glance, and if the hunter wasn’t so observant he would’ve missed it. A familiar dark-haired boy dressed in another vibrant hoodie, with a slightly shorter, red-headed boy walking beside him. They just came out of the restaurant, so engrossed in whatever conversation they were having that they didn’t even notice the demon that was tailing them. Now it all made sense inside his head, the demon wasn’t going anywhere, he was <em>following</em> them. Did that mean they already knew? Were they finally coming after the crossbreed?</p>
<p>Yeonjun let out a low curse, quickly jumping down to the pavement. “So much for having a guardian.” He muttered to himself.</p>
<p>He grabbed the demon by the back of neck, dragging him out of the public sight before slamming the demon into the wall. Kind of in the same way he did to that other guy. The demon hissed, his eyes glowing red as he glared daggers at the hunter.  He was lanky, a couple of inches taller than the blonde, and it was only through pure force that he managed to keep him pinned back. </p>
<p>“You know it’s illegal to stalk people, right?” The hunter taunted.</p>
<p>“You <em> stupid </em>humans, you only get in the way of things! Let go of me!” The demon hissed, still struggling against his hold. He reeked of that sulfurous smell, and the blonde’s nose twitched at the scent. </p>
<p>Yeonjun cocked his head slightly, “In the way of things? Making plans already?”</p>
<p>“You’re gonna regret this, you filthy-”</p>
<p>“You want the crossbreed right? That means you’re working for Salem.” The hunter interrupted.</p>
<p>The demon paused in his tirade, red eyes widening in surprise as he was taken aback. It only lasted for a split second before he chose to glare even harder at the blonde instead.</p>
<p>Yeonjun pressed on, “What do you want with him? We both know you were following him  for a reason so there’s no point in denying it.” </p>
<p>The demon scoffed, avoiding eye-contact, “Like heaven I would tell an insignificant little human like you.”</p>
<p>“That’s cute, I’ve heard worse though,” Yeonjun flashed a sardonic grin before his expression turned completely serious, as he tightened his grip on the demon to a point he knew it would be painful, “Tell me what you know, <em> now</em>.”</p>
<p>“What I want to know is how you know,” The demon replied through a strained voice, his demeanor unusually calm. “There must be a mole.” His blood-red pupils snapped to the blonde with a glare so piercing it almost felt like he was being stabbed, “You know who that mole is. Who is it?”</p>
<p>It was Yeonjun’s turn to scoff, “Why would I tell you that?”</p>
<p>The demon’s eyes seemed to glow even brighter at this, “So we can <em> kill </em>the traitor, of course.” </p>
<p>The blonde stared at the demon warily, not liking his abrupt change in manner. <em> So this demon hated traitors more than he hated humans, huh? </em>“How about I make you a deal; information for information. You tell me why Salem wants the boy and I’ll give you the names of the traitors.”</p>
<p>The lanky demon nodded at that.</p>
<p>“You first.”</p>
<p>“We need his blood, his blood is the key.” The demon began, “In a couple of months, there will be an eclipse. It’s a perfect alignment of celestial bodies, just like it is said to be in the prophecy. With that eclipse, and his blood, we will finally be powerful enough.”</p>
<p>Yeonjun grimaced, “What’s so special about his blood?”</p>
<p>“That’s all that you’re getting out of me,” The demon said firmly, eyes narrowing, “Now give me their names.”</p>
<p>The blonde scrutinized the demon for another moment, before finally letting go of the demon and taking a small step. Yeonjun sighed, “Their leader is a tall guy with a deep voice. Don’t remember names, but one of his henchmen can teleport. They have a small coven of rogues that are hiding somewhere on the outskirts of the city. They’re the ones helping out humans and giving us weapons to stop you.”</p>
<p>“Taehyung.” The demon hissed his name like it was poison, “Of course it would be him, that <em> nuisance.” </em>A wicked grin split his lips, displaying all of his pointed teeth, “Well, he won’t be a problem anymore after today.” The threat hung in the air heavily.</p>
<p>But before the demon could even move, Yeonjun was already shoving his blade into the monster’s heart, watching as the demon’s expression morphed into one of shock, then horror, then anger. Black blood seeped from his wound, dripping down his blade and making it glow a ghostly white. </p>
<p>“Actually, it’s <em> you </em> who won’t be a problem after today.” The blonde said coldly as he yanked out his blade. He watched as the demon’s body crumpled to the ground, the familiar burning stench filled the air before it dissolved into smoke.</p>
<p>
  <span>He wiped his blade off on the side of the wall before sheathing it under his long trench coat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shoving his hands into his pocket, he casually walked out of the small hiding place, and back onto the streets of the busy city. Soobin would be finished with his target by now, their designated meet up place was the noodle shop up the street. The words from the demon were still playing back in his mind, he was so distracted by analyzing his words that he didn’t realize he strayed from his straight path. It wasn’t until he bumped into someone that he was jolted out of his thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry-!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both of them froze, midway through their apologies as they stared at each other, their eyes widening in recognition. Yeonjun was standing face to face with the boy; the half-demon that was stirring up all this commotion. He was the first to recover from the surprise, while the boy’s big, dark eyes were still wide. He looked like he saw a ghost, his mouth fell open in an ‘O’ shape. His companion, the redhead, was the first to make a move, He stepped forward and opened his mouth to say something to him but the crossbreed quickly stopped him with a firm grasp on the shoulder. The redhead turned to his friend, but his gaze was still focused solely on him, Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, feeling something close to amusement at the look on his face. But all he did was give a small nod, before walking around the pair. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What was that about?” He could still hear their hushed voices, “Do you know him or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve never seen him before,” He quickly denied, “C’mon, let’s go.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeonjun snorted at that, his lips quirking up in amusement. It was fine by him if he wanted to pretend they didn’t know each other, he preferred to keep his work life separate from his personal life anyway. But something told him it wouldn’t last very long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey,” Soobin greeted him upon the blonde coming to their meet up place, “Did you get your target?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yeonjun nodded, “Yeah, I did. You?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soobin nodded, his dimples appearing in his smile, “I didn’t take as long as you did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The blonde hunter rolled his eyes, punching the taller softly in the arm. Soobin snickered the whole time as they both made their way back to headquarters. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you as always for reading! Leave a comment if you want, I always love to hear your thoughts. Until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. step 7: get stalked by a raven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, happy belated new year, I wish all of you the best for 2021! And to celebrate us making it into the next year I've come with another chapter. Thank you guys as always for the comments/kudos/bookmarks! Although, I do have a lil announcement to make- for anyone who's interested I am also in the works of writing a taejun soulmate au. It won't be posted anytime soon (maybe later this month at the earliest), but if you are interested in reading I just wanted to give you a heads up. </p>
<p>I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>step seven: get stalked by a raven </em>
  </strong>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~ </em>
</p>
<p>Beomgyu had just finished spending a good three hours at the campus art studio working on one of his paintings for his class. The time had passed by so fast, that always seemed to happen whenever the brunette was concentrated on his craft. Taehyun texted him a little earlier to let him know he’d be holed up in the library for the night- the poor redhead had an exam coming up, so Beomgyu didn’t feel the need to stop and go to the cafeteria for dinner. With paint-splattered clothes and stained hands, he scrutinized his piece for a long moment, before placing it on a rack to dry. After cleaning up his area and washing off as much paint as he could, the brunette grabbed his backpack and left the art studio, making his way back to his dormitory.</p>
<p>It was almost October, the days were getting shorter and the sun was already on the edge of the horizon, shadowing the trees and tall buildings that framed it. The sky had already darkened to a navy blue, the lampposts stationed around the campus already glowing a muted amber color. The wind was picking up too, Beomgyu found himself glad that he grabbed a jacket before going to the art studio after work, zipping up his puffy light blue jacket until it tickled the bottom of his chin. The brunette noticed that the pathway was virtually empty; there wasn’t a student in sight even though it was only 8 PM. Something about that  felt...<em> weird. </em> An unfamiliar feeling of unease stirred inside Beomgyu’s gut at the thought. He couldn’t figure out exactly why he was so weirded out, but he couldn’t ignore the eerie paranoia sinking into his stomach. Maybe it was because off all the stuff Kai and Taehyung told him about Salem and his minions, or maybe he was being a little irrational, but the brunette felt like he was being <em> watched</em>.</p>
<p>Beomgyu looked around for a moment, noting that there still wasn’t anybody around. <em> Geez, maybe I just need some rest </em>the brunette thought to himself lamentably. Maybe he was just super sensitive and jumpy because of the past couple of weeks he’s had? In an attempt to ease his nerves, Beomgyu dug into his pockets for his earphones and slipped them on, deciding it would be more enjoyable to spend this walk listening to music  than being paranoid. There was a brief time period after the accident where the brunette was too scared to wear earphones while walking, but he eventually overcame his trauma. Even with the music blasting through his ears, he couldn’t shake the uneasiness that stayed simmering in the back of his mind. He suddenly wished he didn’t live almost twenty minutes away from the studio. Today of all days, seemed to not be the best day to walk back alone. </p>
<p>Still, Beomgyu tried to not let his uneasiness get the best of him. The past couple of weeks have been rough on him, but he was finally starting to gain a sense of normality again. He still had his classes, his job, painting, hanging out with Taehyun, and now hanging out with Kai to practice his powers. He was getting better at that too- he could now summon hellfire without accidentally burning down his room in the process, although there were a few more close calls with the fire alarm going off. Well, the point was he was getting <em> better. </em> He had accepted his new life and was finally adjusted to everything. Of course there were still many unknown variables, but the brunette didn’t want to live in <em> fear </em>anymore. He wanted to enjoy his new life- even if that meant he was not completely human anymore. </p>
<p>Beomgyu bobbed his head to the music, humming to the melody of the song to himself as he continued walking, cutting through a path of thick trees- the campus garden was somewhere over here. He froze in his tracks when he saw something flash across his vision. Heart jumping into his chest, Beomgyu flinched in surprise, before looking around his surroundings again. </p>
<p>“Hello?” He called out hesitantly. </p>
<p>As expected, he was answered by silence. There was still no one around. <em> Did I imagine that? Am I hallucinating or something?  </em></p>
<p>Beomgyu let out a small sigh, but against his better judgement he continued walking. This time he kept the music paused, keenly aware of everything around him and feeling the sensation of being watched deepen with every step. He never felt this way when he was fully human, did this sharp sense of awareness come from his demonic side? </p>
<p>The second time the brunette froze up was when he heard a sudden, but faint sound of laughter. The voice was heavily distorted and unfamiliar, but it still managed to make his blood feel like it turned into ice. He snapped his head up to look around again, convinced that his uneasiness wasn’t so irrational after all. </p>
<p>“Hello? Who’s there?” Beomgyu demanded, looking around expectantly. “Seriously, this isn’t freaking funny. I know someone is here, just s-show yourself!” He internally cursed himself for stuttering on that last line. He wanted to be firm and intimidating like that hunter, but he couldn’t quite keep the tremble out of his tone. A spark of fear flashed inside his mind at the thought of being watched. “...Kai? Are you here?” He hesitantly whispered after a moment.</p>
<p>But the brunette knew deep down that it couldn’t have been the taller demon. For one, Kai was loud and had no problem making his presence known. And for two, he remembered the taller brunette telling him after class that Taehyung had summoned him back to the coven to help with ‘coven duties’ (whatever that meant). So Kai wouldn’t even be on campus right now. </p>
<p>Beomgyu froze at the sound of laughter again. The sound was cynical and vicious, and rang inside his head like a bell. It didn’t sound like it was coming from someone, it sounded like it was coming from <em> inside </em>his mind. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, and Beomgyu bolted. Running as fast he could, not even caring how crazy he might look. He could feel the cackling intensifying inside his head, as if it was set on repeat like some twisted alarm. Squeezing his shut, Beomgyu grabbed the sides of his head, feeling a dull aching sensation forming between his eyes. No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop the sound. He was so distracted by this sudden attack that he didn’t realize he had fallen to the ground until his arms hit the concrete and a flash of pain raced up his body. Groaning to himself, Beomgyu rubbed his head until the throbbing sensation died down. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a dark feather laying on the ground in front of him.</p>
<p>The brunette stared at it in panicked confusion. <em> Did I really just trip over a feather?? </em>No, he couldn’t have, or else it would’ve been behind him. But...where did it come from?</p>
<p>Still feeling a little lightheaded, the brunette pulled himself to his knees, still staring down at the feather as his brain tried to process everything that happened. Was it a hallucination? Beomgyu had never heard a voice like that before- it was chilling to the bone, full of darkness and perverse intentions. There was no way in hell he could’ve imagined something like that. Was he going crazy then? </p>
<p>Beomgyu glanced back at the feather. There was something strange about it. It was a very long, obsidian- colored feather, looking like it belonged to a larger bird. It  seemed out of place here, there weren’t any large dark colored birds on campus. But despite the feather’s odd placement, Beomgyu felt drawn to it. Enough to bend down and pick it up, examining it carefully in his hand. He flinched again at another sound, but it wasn’t the sinister laughter this time. It was the squawk of a bird, and the brunette’s gaze snapped up at the sky, just in time to see a large, dark-colored bird descend from a tree above. It soared through the air for a moment, extending its wings, before gently landing on the ground only a foot away from the brunette.</p>
<p>It was a raven.</p>
<p>Beomgyu’s muscles tensed, but he didn’t move. It felt like his body was frozen to the spot. He wasn’t sure if he should be panicked at that or get up and run. The raven didn’t move either, it remained watching him almost passively. It unnerved the brunette, but it also made him curious. This was the largest raven he’s ever seen in his life, and he was pretty sure ravens weren’t a part of the natural population of birds in Seoul.  Beomgyu glanced at the obsidian feather in his hand again, it matched the raven’s. Slowly, he lowered his hand and placed it back on the ground between himself and the raven. It’s head snapped down towards the feather for a brief moment, before it’s beady gaze was back on Beomgyu. It still didn’t move or make a noise...it just watched him.</p>
<p>Was this the reason why Beomgyu felt like he was being watched? Beomgyu couldn’t help but snort a little at that. With the way he was feeling earlier, he thought he was being stalked by some serial killer or something. </p>
<p>“You scared the hell out of me, you know.” The brunette admitted softly to the raven with a breathless chuckle.</p>
<p>The raven just kept staring.</p>
<p>Finally pushing himself back onto his feet, he adjusted the straps of his backpack sheepishly. “You’re pretty brave for a bird. Usually they fly away at the sight of humans, but you just keep staring with your beady little eyes.”</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but it looked like the raven’s eyes narrowed slightly at the brunette’s words. Beomgyu jumped when the raven suddenly spread its wings, before taking off into the dark sky again. He watched as it circled around him for a moment, before finally flying past him and off into distance until it was out of sight. Beomgyu just stood there for a couple of moments, spooked by the whole strange encounter until another gust of wind blew past him. He shivered a little, wrapping himself tighter into his puffy jacket, before turning back towards the pathway again. The feather had disappeared.</p>
<hr/>
<p>That was the start of many strange events that had happened to Beomgyu. </p>
<p>He still found himself feeling like he was being watched from time to time, but he never saw that raven again. But despite the uneasy feeling, nothing ever bad <em> really </em> happened to him. So Beomgyu decided the feeling was irrational after all, and brushed it off everytime it happened. This went on for the rest of the week, until that Sunday afternoon where the thought came to him again. He had just finished another session of practicing summoning hellfire with Kai (he could now summon it and banish it without burning anything), now they were just lounging in the room, watching an anime playing from Beomgyu’s laptop.</p>
<p>Maybe it was because he saw a raven in the anime they were watching, but Beomgyu was suddenly prompted to say, “I saw one earlier this week while I was walking back from the studio one night.”</p>
<p>“Saw what?” The taller asked, his curiosity peaked.</p>
<p>“A raven,” The shorter replied, idly gesturing towards the raven on the screen, “It was the biggest one I’d ever seen. I think it was the biggest bird I’ve ever seen in general.”</p>
<p>“A raven huh…” It was subtle, but there was a change in Kai’s voice. Beomgyu had learned to pick up on it after being around the demon for a while now. </p>
<p>He instantly perked up, abandoning the anime to instead peer at the taller curiously. There seemed to be a troubled expression brewing on his face, his eyebrows were scrunched together and a slight frown was forming on his lips. Kai only got quiet like this when he was worried about something, but didn’t want to say anything out loud. But Beomgyu went ahead and asked anyway;</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Hmm? Oh me? Nothing, I was just thinking about something,” Kai replied after a beat. He smiled at the shorter, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “It’s nothing big, just thought of a question I need to ask Taehyung-hyung when I see them later on.”</p>
<p>Beomgyu wasn’t completely convinced, but he nodded along anyway, and they both went back to watching the anime for a couple of minutes. </p>
<p>“This might sound like a weird question,” Kai said a few minutes later, “But did you...hear or feel anything strange when you saw that raven earlier this week?”</p>
<p>The brunette debated on telling the whole story at the risk of sounding insane for half a minute, before deciding that nothing could get more bizarre than being a demon anyway. “Yeah, I did actually. I heard this voice...it was weird. I’ve never heard anything like it before. It was like it was laughing at me.” A shiver ran down his spine at the memory of that voice.</p>
<p>“You heard a voice?” Kai echoed, his frown deepening.</p>
<p>Beomgyu nodded, “...Does that mean something?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” The taller replied, his eyebrows furrowing deeper, “But I have a feeling we’ll find out soon.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p>
<p>The blonde eyes fluttered open at the sounds of clamorous car horns blaring just outside his apartment. But it wasn’t the car horns that startled him, after living in the city for almost four years, he was used to the daily cacophony, that was normal. What startled him was the fact that he woke up to the sun sitting high in the sky, its rays shining brightly in the sky despite the chilly fall weather. Yeonjun let out a low groan, groggily wiping his eyes before rolling over to the nightstand on the other side of his bed. He blearily stared at the time displayed on his phone screen, confirming the time of day for him.</p>
<p>1:36 PM.</p>
<p>After working for almost twenty-four hours straight and passing out around 5 in the morning, he supposed it would make sense for him to wake up this late. Still, Yeonjun didn’t like waking up so late. Even if he was off work today, he still liked to be as productive as possible. The thought of sitting in an apartment by himself with nothing but his thoughts terrified him. </p>
<p>The blonde sat up, stretching his arms above his head and rolling his neck before climbing out of his bed. He was in the middle of contemplating what he’d do next when his stomach let out a perfectly-timed low growl. He walked into his kitchen, idly noticing how cold it was; the hardwood floor practically felt like ice when pressed against his bare feet. He opened up the fridge, peering into it and also noticed that he barely had any food left. Soobin always scolded him for always going out to eat and never buying anything he needed to make at home.</p>
<p>
  <em> “Dude, your fridge has nothing in it.” The taller said in amazement, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and horror, “What the heck, Yeonjun! Don’t you need food to live?” His eyes narrowed in faux suspicion, “Are you sure you’re not a demon yourself?”</em>
</p>
<p>The blonde snorted at the memory before shutting the fridge and opening the pantry above it and peered around. He was in luck, there was one more packet of ramen in the box left. The blonde pulled a small pot and cranked on the stove, he was in the middle of pouring the noodles into the water when he smelled the infamous scent of sulfur. It was light, almost undetectable, but Yeonjun had always been sensitive to these things. His muscles tensed up, his hand automatically reaching for his waist only to realize he left his blade in his room. Cursing inside his head, his eyes glanced around the small kitchen, looking for another weapon to use.</p>
<p>“Relax hunter, I didn’t come to fight you.” A familiar gruff voice grunted. It was the teleporter.</p>
<p>Yeonjun only relaxed slightly at that, he turned to shoot a wary glare at the mint-haired demon. “What do you want?”</p>
<p>“Taehyung summons you.” Was his short reply. His arms were crossed as he casually leaned against the wall, not bothered at all by the blonde’s stern glare.</p>
<p>Yeonjun scoffed, shaking his head to himself as he turned back to the food, “Really? On my one day off?” His voice was laced with sarcasm.</p>
<p>“It’s urgent. There’s been a new development to our predicament.”</p>
<p>The blonde frowned at his cryptic words, but turned off the burner on his stove. “Fine, let me get changed first.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>In a blink of an eye, Yeonjun and the demon were standing on the porch of the decrepit house. The blonde took a moment to catch his breath while the other went up to knock on the door three times. The door opened immediately, and Yeonjun was faced with the leader of this demon coven. The blonde greeted him with his usual annoyed grimace, but he noticed that the ravenette didn’t have that haughty expression he usually wore on his face. While his facial expression was carefully neutral, he could see the tension in his crimson eyes. Taehyung did not bother to greet him, only giving him a small nod of acknowledgement before sharply turning on his heel and walking further inside. Yeonjun hesitantly followed, puzzled by how dim the room was. </p>
<p>“You guys don’t like lights or something?” He mumbled.</p>
<p>“The electricity doesn’t run up here, only in the basement.” Taehyung answered, not to his surprise, “This is only a hideout, so it’s not necessary anyway.”</p>
<p>They made it to the basement, which was flooded with fluorescent light that made the blonde’s eyes twitch, but he forced himself to quickly adjust to it. The rest of the coven was already waiting downstairs, including the half-demon boy and his guardian. The dark-haired boy flinched when they made eye-contact before quickly looking away, and Yeonjun’s lips twitched into a small smirk. </p>
<p>Once they were all gathered, Taehyung didn’t waste any time, “Salem has found Beomgyu.”</p>
<p>There was a small flutter of commotion at the announcement, but it quickly died down with a wave of the ravenette’s hand.</p>
<p><em> That fast? </em>Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, “How did they find out?”</p>
<p>“He breached the protection spell we placed on Beomgyu,” Taehyung replied, his voice grave, “Beomgyu told us that he saw a raven earlier last week, it was watching him. That raven was probably Salem’s spy, he is known for manipulating certain animals into doing his bidding. He’s only getting stronger, I’m afraid it won’t be long before he attempts a kidnapping. Thankfully, nothing has happened yet.”</p>
<p>“Actually, there already <em> was </em>an attempt,” The blonde spoke up, gaining the attention of the coven as they all looked at him, “Last week I was hunting down a target and I noticed that he had been following the crossbreed while he was out in public. I stopped it though.”</p>
<p>“And you failed to mention this to us why?” The teleporter cut in.</p>
<p>Yeonjun scoffed, “Because the communication is a one-way thing? I had no way to tell you, I could only wait for you to summon me again.” He turned to Taehyung, “I interrogated him before I killed him. He said there was going to be an eclipse in a couple of months, and they were going to use that along with his blood to complete some sort of prophecy.”</p>
<p>Another round of commotion came from the coven at the blonde’s words. Taehyung cursed lowly.</p>
<p>“M-My blood?” The dark-haired boy- his name was Beomgyu wasn’t it?- spoke up hesitantly. “What do they need my blood for?”</p>
<p>“To get the power he finally needs to take over Earth.” His guardian answered, his voice bleak and devoid of the usual emotion he spoke with. There was a moment of solemn silence as this news sank in.</p>
<p>The teleporter was the one to break the silence, “It’s obvious what we have to do. We need to hide him.”</p>
<p>“H-Hide me? In...here?” Beomgyu asked nervously.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he replied, “This place is spelled with the strongest protection.”</p>
<p>“But...but I can’t…” Beomgyu trailed off, not seeming to find the words he wanted to say.</p>
<p>“We can’t do that to him, hyung,” His guardian stepped in, “It’s already bad enough he got dragged into this. We can’t cut him off from his normal life.”</p>
<p>“His ‘normal life’ is not our top concern,” The mint-haired demon replied firmly, “Besides, Salem has already sent spies to his campus. He’s much safer here than he is anywhere else. Aren’t I right, Taehyung?” He directed his last question to the leader, who had been surprisingly silent. </p>
<p>“Hyung,” The guardian pleaded again, this time at the leader, “Please don’t do this. I’m sure there’s another way.”</p>
<p>“There’s no other way!” The teleporter insisted.</p>
<p>“...There might be another way.” Taehyung finally spoke up, his face was contemplative. The mint-haired demon immediately turned to him, shocked at his answer.</p>
<p>
  <em> “Taehyung!” </em>
</p>
<p>“We could keep Beomgyu here until the eclipse passes, <em> or </em>we could go with an alternative option. Kai is right, we should not force Beomgyu to give up his normal life, it is unfair,” He turned to the dark-haired boy in question, “Well Beomgyu, I’ll give you the right to choose what happens next. There is an alternative option, but I must warn you it’s riskier because it can’t guarantee your safety a hundred percent.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take it, I don’t mind.” Beomgyu said quickly.</p>
<p>Taehyung chuckled at that, “You haven’t heard it yet.”</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you’re serious right now.” The mint-haired demon muttered.</p>
<p>“What’s the alternative?” Beomgyu asked eagerly.</p>
<p>“We train you.” The demon leader said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.</p>
<p><em> “Train him?” </em>The teleporter asked, echoing everyone in the room’s confusion. </p>
<p>Taehyung nodded, “Yes Yoongi. He’s already being trained by Kai with his demonic powers. The hunter can also train him in self-defense.” Another uproar broke across the coven, everyone was speaking at once, and on top of each other. Taehyung quieted them down again, but this time it took a little longer.</p>
<p>“Why should we trust that hunter? Jungkook is an excellent fighter, he can train him.” The teleporter- <em> Yoongi- </em>protested, gesturing to a taller demon with wide eyes standing a couple of feet away from him.</p>
<p>“Nobody knows how to kill a demon better than a hunter, and he <em> is </em>the best of them.” The ravenette replied with a dismissive wave, “It will either be Yeonjun training him in self-defense and agreeing to be a bodyguard, or Beomgyu has to stay here.”</p>
<p>At the sound of his name, the blonde perked up. “Wait a minute, a <em> bodyguard? </em>Isn’t that his job?” He pointed to the guardian.</p>
<p>“He’s right hyung, I can do it! I’ll do a better job at keeping him safe.” The brunette insisted. </p>
<p>Taehyung shook his head, “That’s my final decision, it isn’t up for discussion.” The guardian sulked at that, “So, Beomgyu? Yeonjun? What will it be?”</p>
<p>“I’ll do it.” Beomgyu responded instantly, to everyone’s surprise. “I’m willing to learn self-defense if it means I can live on campus.”</p>
<p>The ravenette nodded at him, before turning to the blonde with an expectant look. Yeonjun just glowered at him. He hated how this demon was always pressuring him into making choices he didn’t like. What should he care if the half-demon boy has to stay here? It would certainly make everyone’s jobs easier if he was kept in one space. He hated to admit it, but he agreed with the demon named Yoongi on that one. He was ready to voice his rejection of this plan, when he made the mistake of making eye-contact with Beomgyu.</p>
<p>He was actually looking him right in the eye (for the first time in a while), but that wasn’t what startled the blonde. It was the look in his big, brown eyes. He was practically <em> pleading </em> him with his eyes. It reminded him of their first meeting, when he was about to kill him. Beomgyu had pleaded with him with his eyes that day too, drenched in black blood and terrified. Yeonjun always scorned him because he thought he was too weak, too timid to be a demon. But it just dawned in on him that he wasn’t weak and pitiful because he was a new demon, it was because he was a <em> former </em> human. According to all the other demons, he wasn’t even supposed to be one. It happened by accident, <em> because </em> of an accident, and ever since he turned he’s had to suffer with this burden of not only a new demonic life, but being the balance between peace and chaos in the world. Perhaps Yeonjun was too hard on him. As much as he hated demons, he wasn’t made of stone. In a weird way, he could relate to Beomgyu. Because of demons, his life was forever altered too. Perhaps he should stop seeing the poor crossbreed as a monster, but instead a <em> victim.  </em></p>
<p>Yeonjun let out a defeated sigh, “Fine. I’ll train him.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope this plot is going at a steady pace lol. Thanks so much for reading as always! Feel free to comment if you want!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. step 8: train with the psycho</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello, here with another installment of my fav demon au! As always thank you for the comments/kudos!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <strong>step eight: train with the psycho</strong></em>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>The following few days after Beomgyu found out that he was being watched left him in a state of tense alertness. The first two days he barely left his room- which was fine since it was the weekend, but once Monday rolled around he had no choice but to leave his dorm to go to class. On the bright side, Kai basically stuck to his side like glue after the incident. He always walked with Beomgyu everywhere; his classes, the art studio, even accompanied him and Taehyun when they went out to eat. It was nice, having that added sense of protection, and it made him relax eventually. </p><p>Beomgyu flicked the fire in and out from his palms, watching as the bright flame momentarily painted everything around him in a titian tint, before disappearing. He’s been getting pretty good at this summoning hellfire thing. He was also getting good at managing the magic- it didn’t feel so intense and exhausting after he activated it. After almost burning down their room, Beomgyu and Kai came to the unanimous decision that it would be better to practice at the coven’s base. It was a perfect spot; out in the rural with no one around and spelled for safety. He was standing on the porch of the decrepit house now, flickering the hell-flame in and out while Kai finished lining up the empty bottles across the patchy grass. </p><p>Once the taller brunette was satisfied with his work, he stood back to his full height and turned towards Beomgyu with two thumbs up. Beomgyu stood straight, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath (because Kai said it was a good way to focus his mind) before opening his eyes again with a look of determination. </p><p>He looked at the first bottle, feeling his body warm up in that familiar way before the bottle burst into a bright flame. It wasn’t too big that it overwhelmed the bottle- Kai taught him how to control it so that you only summon enough. Beomgyu quickly turned towards the next bottle and watched as it sprouted a flame too. He kept doing this, shifting his gaze slightly each time as he went down the line until all of the bottles were lit. He heard Kai’s excited cheers somewhere from his left, but the brunette didn’t want to lose his focus just yet. There was still one more part of the test he needed to do. With another deep breath, he imagined the flames being sent back to where they came from. When he opened his eyes, the flames were gone- the only thing left in its place where the charred bottles.</p><p>“You did it!” Kai cheered excitedly, running back up the porch, “Look how good he did! His accuracy was better than mine when I first started using my powers! He definitely passed, right hyung?” They both turned towards the older demon who had been spectating the whole event.</p><p>Taehyung stood up from the rocking chair he was sitting in, there was a moment of silence as Beomgyu and Kai waited for his response. The coven leader’s stony expression broke into a satisfied smile and Beomgyu felt his heart thrum in his chest with excitement. He high-fived Kai cheerfully.</p><p>“Congratulations Beomgyu, this means you passed the first phase of training.” Taehyung said. </p><p>“First phase?” The dark-haired boy repeated, “Does this mean there are more?”</p><p>“Well, yeah. You only mastered the basics,” Kai replied, “You still have to do training for your special power.”</p><p>“All demons have their own unique ability.” Taehyung agreed with a nod.</p><p>Beomgyu sighed wistfully, “Well, I just hope I have something cool.”</p><p>“Of course you will! Crossbreeds are supposed to be like, the most powerful beings ever!” Kai exclaimed, still excited. </p><p>The coven leader laughed at the younger demon’s enthusiasm, before looking down to check the watch on his wrist. “You’ll have to excuse me, I have to speak with Yoongi before he goes to pick up the hunter.” And with that, the ravenette walked back into the house, leaving the two out on the porch.</p><p>Beomgyu felt decidedly<em> less </em>excited at the idea of training with the hunter, but he knew he couldn’t help it. That was the arrangement he agreed to. </p><p>“Are you nervous?” Kai asked, as if he could sense the other boy’s anxiousness.</p><p>Beomgyu bit his lip as he sat down in the previously-occupied rocking chair, “A little…”</p><p>Kai gave a soft chuckle as he leaned against the railing, “It’s okay. Just know that Taehyung-hyung and I will be in the room with you. We won’t let him hurt you.”</p><p>“Thanks, Kai.” Beomgyu couldn’t help the small smile that came to him at Kai’s reassurance. He really was thankful for the taller boy. Without his constant guidance and reassurance, he couldn’t imagine where he’d be right now. It really made him wonder how such a bright, kind, and caring person like him could’ve been transformed into a demon. He didn’t know much about the transformation, but he remembered Taehyung saying something along the lines of corruption to the human soul. Didn’t that mean he had to have been wicked when he was still human? Beomgyu couldn’t honestly imagine Kai being wicked or evil to anyone. Other than the teasing he does here and there, there didn’t seem to be a wicked bone in the taller brunette’s body.</p><p>“Hey Kai,” Beomgyu started softly, looking up at the taller, “I was just curious about something. Didn’t you say, in order for a human to turn into a demon, their soul has to be corrupted right?”</p><p>The taller brunette nodded, “Yep, that’s usually how it goes.”</p><p>“Well....if you don’t mind me asking...how did yours get corrupted?” Kai looked taken aback for a moment, and Beomgyu quickly started gushing out apologies, “Was that insensitive? I’m sorry, you don’t have to say anything don’t worry! Just forget I asked-”</p><p>“It’s okay,” The taller said with a small laugh, “I’m not offended or anything. The question just surprised me! That’s all.”</p><p>“Oh…” The dark-haired boy mumbled.</p><p>“But yeah, I can totally see why you’re curious.” Kai said with an understanding nod, “While it’s true that most demons are formed from corrupted humans...there’s always loopholes. For example, a soul can be corrupted without actually having to commit evil. You can...um, sell it.”</p><p>Beomgyu raised his eyebrows in surprise, “You can sell your soul?”</p><p>“Yep! Where do you think the phrase ‘sell your soul to the Devil’ comes from?” He said lightly, before giving a small sigh, “I...I agreed to sell my soul in order to save my sister. Her name was Lea and well, she had always been sick ever since we were young. We were very poor, my parents passed away when I was ten and we had to go live with our aunt. When I turned fifteen I started working, saving up as much as I could so that I could buy medicine for her. Her sickness seemed to calm down for a couple of years, and then she got really sick again. It was the worst it had ever been. We took her to every doctor we could find in the city, but no one knew how to cure her. We tried every medicine we could, but nothing worked. She was running out of time, and I didn’t know what to do, I was panicking and desperate. I remember I knocked on every door in the city, asking anyone for help. But no one could help us…</p><p>I even traveled to towns nearby, knocking on doors and doing everything I could to try to help her. That was when I ran into this strange man with red eyes. He said he could help me cure my sister. I didn’t think anything of it at the time cuz I was so desperate, and I told him I would do anything to save her. He said in order for him to save her, I have to give my soul to him. It confused me and made me nervous to be around him, but I still said yes. He spelled me, and I felt a little tingly but nothing else happened so I thought everything was okay. Then I took him back to my family and he healed Lea just like he said he would. I thought that everything would finally be okay after that, but weird stuff started happening to me. I started eating less and less, and I always felt like I was sick. Over the next couple of months my eyes changed colors, my tongue sharpened, I grew sharp nails and a tail. All I could remember was the excruciating pain as I felt my body begin to slowly change. I was so scared as to what was happening to me that I ran away, afraid to hurt my family. Luckily, Taehyung-hyung found me while I was in the middle of my transformation, and helped me out. I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for him finding me.” Kai said with a doleful expression. “I felt so lost and scared after my transformation. I didn’t want to be a demon, I had no idea what I was actually signing myself up for when I agreed to give that demon my soul...but Taehyung-hyung adopted me into the coven, and showed me how to live without being evil. So, I basically owe him my life.” He finished quietly.</p><p>Beomgyu took a moment to digest all the things Kai just told him. He knew the pain of transformation, although for him it happened at once. He couldn’t imagine how it felt to feel like that for months. The pain must’ve been unbearable. He felt sadness swell in his chest at the idea of Kai suffering. But most of all, he felt sadness at the fact that Kai had to sacrifice his humanity to save his sister. Now having gotten to know the demon, he knew that it was something Kai would do. </p><p>“Why did that demon even want your soul?”</p><p>“Increase the population I think. Back then, the war was starting to tip in Heaven’s favor, Taehyung told me there was a sudden purge of demons. I think, whoever that guy was, was one of the higher ups who works for Salem. He was probably tasked with creating and recruiting more demons,” Kai tilted his head thoughtfully, “he said he would come back for me in six months, probably when I was a fully fledged demon. Thankfully I ran away before then.”</p><p>“Oh,” Beomgyu murmured softly, “Well...did you ever see your family again?”</p><p>The taller brunette nodded, “Yeah, I went to check up on them occasionally. I wanted to make sure that Lea was okay, and thankfully she was. Taehyung-hyung said that it was best that I didn’t stay with them. Because of the purging, demon hunters were all over that city and he didn’t want me to be discovered. So I just watched them from afar.”</p><p>“They never tried to get in contact with you?”</p><p>“Well, yes...they asked anyone they knew where I went but...I just couldn’t risk returning to them.” The brunette answered, there was a far-away look on his face that made Beomgyu think the demon was lost in his memories. An odd silence settled over the two of them, but Beomgyu couldn’t think of a way to break it.</p><p>As if on cue, Yoongi suddenly appeared in front of them on the porch, almost startling Beomgyu out of his chair. Beside him, the blonde hunter scowled as he rubbed his temples.</p><p>“Can’t we just take a car here? Is teleportation absolutely necessary?” He complained gruffly.</p><p>“And risk compromising our security?” Yoongi countered as he crossed his arms, “I don’t think so.”</p><p>“This place is in the literal middle of nowhere. Trust me, <em>nobody</em> would follow us here.”</p><p>“Stop complaining and just do what you’re here to do, hunter.” The older demon grumbled before jutting his chin towards Beomgyu and Kai. </p><p>Yeonjun rolled his eyes, before his gaze rested on Beomgyu. He looked him up and down slowly, probably only to assess his physical capabilities, but it still made an annoying fluttery feeling appear in Beomgyu’s chest. He quickly broke eye-contact, choosing to stare down at his worn sneakers instead. The front door opened, and Beomgyu knew without looking up that it was Taehyung. The coven leader just had a certain aura about him that announced his presence without him ever needing to verbalize anything.</p><p>“Well, now that everyone’s here,” Taehyung announced in a bright tone despite the not-so-friendly atmosphere, “Should we start our first lesson?”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ yeonjun ~</em>
</p><p>Fifteen minutes later, all of them were down in the basement where the dark mats that were piled up by the wall were laid out on the ground. The three demons stood off to the side, watching Yeonjun and Beomgyu who were the only two people on the mats with curiosity. Yeonjun was annoyed by the fact that he had an audience of so many red eyes tracking his every movement, but he pushed that thought to the back of his head as he stretched out his arms and legs, rolling his neck a couple of times before deciding he was warmed up enough.</p><p>“So tell me,” The blonde began, taking a few steps closer to the dark-haired boy who stood stiff and awkward, “Do you have any fighting experience?”</p><p>He shook his head quickly, “N-No, not really...” He looked thoughtful for a moment, “Well, t-there was that one time my mom signed me up for taekwondo when I was eleven but...I didn’t take it for long.”</p><p>Yeonjun snorted, “So the answer is no.”</p><p>Beomgyu flushed a little, “Um...yeah.”</p><p><em> Great, </em>the blonde muttered inside his head, before he continued to scrutinize the brunette. “What’s your powers?”</p><p>“I’m not sure yet...I’ve only learned the summoning thing.”</p><p>Yeonjun consciously had to suppress the eye-roll at that, “That’s obviously not enough. You know what the best way to fight your enemy is? <em> Knowing </em>your enemy. If you’re going to fight off these demons, you’re going to need to learn a little more about them,” The blonde instructed firmly, “Yeah you’re one of them, but because you’re still half-human it puts you at a disadvantage. You obviously don’t have the centuries of cultivation and power that they have.” Yeonjun paced around the room as he talked, once in a while shooting steely glares at the brunette. “It’s crucial to be observant and track their every movement. You might not know what kind of power you’re dealing with until it’s too late.”</p><p>“...how can you tell?” He asked quietly.</p><p>Yeonjun stopped pacing, he was standing right in front of him again. </p><p>“Their auras,” The coven leader was the one to answer the question, “Humans aren’t able to sense it, but all demons give off a certain aura that makes it easy for us to recognize each other.”</p><p>The blonde scoffed, “We might not be able to sense it like you, but we can sure as hell smell it. You always smell like sulfur.”</p><p>The ravenette raised an eyebrow at that, “We do? Hmm, that’s interesting.”</p><p>The youngest of the demons (wasn’t his name Kai?) sniffed himself, “That’s weird...I don’t smell anything.”</p><p>“Trust me, it’s there. Makes my job a lot easier.” Yeonjun replied, before focusing his attention back on the dark-haired boy, “Anyways, since you’re only starting off we’ll need to focus on your physical strength more.” </p><p>The blonde suddenly invaded his space, and Beomgyu let out another squeak of surprise as Yeonjun grabbed his arms and arranged them into a protective fighting stance. The hunter pulled one arm of Beomgyu’s arms out towards him, in a punching motion, “This is how you punch. Make sure your fists are tight, but tuck your thumb under your knuckles. You want to punch with your knuckles like this,” He pulled his fist out towards him again in a punching motion. </p><p>They practiced punching for a couple of minutes, and Yeonjun gave him advice on the best places to aim. Once Beomgyu started to get the hang of it, Yeonjun nodded in satisfaction before easily sinking into a fighting stance he’s done a million times. Beomgyu’s eyes widened in surprise as the blonde suddenly shifted.</p><p>Yeonjun smirked at his expression, “Now, try to land a punch on me.”</p><p>
  <em> “W-What?!” </em>
</p><p>“I won’t even hit back.”</p><p>“But…” He threw a helpless glance at the other demons before turning back to the hunter, “I-”</p><p>“Just do it. You won’t get better unless you try.” Yeonjun encouraged. His smirk widened, “C’mon, don’t you wanna get back at me for trying to kill you? <em> Twice? </em>”</p><p>Beomgyu still looked nervous, but swung forward anyway. Yeonjun saw it a mile away, and took that opening to grab the brunette’s arm, spinning him in the opposite direction to disorient him before pushing him away. Beomgyu fell to the ground with a panicked shout. Yeonjun walked over to stand beside him again, thinly veiled amusement on his face as he watched the dark-haired boy groan dramatically. He rubbed the back of his head as he propped himself up on his elbows, shooting the blonde an accusatory look.</p><p>“You said you wouldn’t hit back!”</p><p>“I didn’t hit back, I just redirected your body movement somewhere else.” The blonde said with a nonchalant shrug, “Basic self-defense technique.”</p><p>Beomgyu frowned, “You didn’t teach me that!”</p><p>“That was actually my segway to our next lesson.”</p><p>The dark-haired boy huffed out a scoff in disbelief, eventually pulling himself back to his feet. </p><p>“Now,” Yeonjun said, not even trying to hide his smirk, “Try and punch me.”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>~ beomgyu ~</em>
</p><p>Beomgyu spent the rest of that training class repeatedly having conversations with the dark mats. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how close he would get to landing a hit, the hunter would always find some way to side-step the punch and redirect him to the ground. True to his word, he never actually hit Beomgyu. But by the time they got back to their dorm, Beomgyu felt like he’d been hit a million times with the way his back and shoulders ached. Kai gave him an ice pack, but he still felt miserable as he tried to lay in a comfortable position on his bed.</p><p>“He really did a number on you, didn’t he?” The taller brunette mumbled, looking at Beomgyu with concern.</p><p>“This feels worse than the time Taehyun made me go work out with him at the gym.” The dark-haired boy complained, throwing an arm over his face, “I thought demon’s healed quickly? Why do I still feel like this.” He complained.</p><p>Kai chuckled softly at that, “You still have to give yourself some time, it takes energy to heal. You can only heal as fast as how much energy you have.”</p><p>Beomgyu groaned again, his head flopping back onto the pillow. He definitely felt <em> depleted.  </em></p><p>The taller brunette patted his shoulder in a comforting way, “You should feel better by the time you wake up.”</p><p>
  <span>“I better! I have a presentation in chem tomorrow,” The dark-haired boy groaned, before his head flopped back down on the pillow, his bangs falling into his eyes momentarily so he huffed a breath to blow them out of the way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a familiar knock on the door, before it opened to reveal the redhead. Beomgyu propped himself up on his elbows, barely holding back another pained groan as Taehyun closed the door behind him with his leg.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Tyunnie…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, why do you sound like you’re dying?” The redhead looked at Beomgyu with a raised eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beomgyu sighed, “I definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Taehyun!” Kai chirped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small smile lifted the corner of Taehyun’s lips as he turned to greet the taller, and Beomgyu definitely noticed. He smirked to himself and Taehyun glared at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say what I think you will, you can kiss your ice cream goodbye.” The redhead threatened, holding up the plastic convenience store bag in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But-!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Kai, do you like strawberry ice cream?” Taehyun pulled out a strawberry popsicle, holding it with a devious grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kai, blissfully unaware, just nodded, “Yeah, I love strawberry!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, you can have it.” Beomgyu squawked in protest as Taehyun casually tossed the taller brunette an ice cream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m sorry! I’ll never comment on it again I swear! Please can I have some ice cream?” Beomgyu begged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Comment on what?” Kai asked casually, as he took a bite of his ice cream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both Taehyun and Beomgyu looked at the taller brunette for a moment, before slowly looking back to each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing!” Beomgyu said quickly, “Tyunnie, </span>
  <em>
    <span>pleaseee</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taehyun finally gave in, and tossed the dark-haired boy another strawberry ice cream popsicle, which he caught with an excited squeal. After the long day of training he’s had, his favorite strawberry ice cream from the convenience store was a perfect reward. The three boys spent the rest of the night eating ice cream while watching funny videos on Youtube. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sorry this one's a little short, i hope u enjoyed. thanks as always for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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